The Child Behaviour Checklist and the Rutter Parental Questionnaire: a comparison between two screening instruments

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Psychometric Validation
• Epidemiological Research

Background:

• Screening for child psychiatric disorders is crucial for early intervention.
• Parental questionnaires are valuable tools in epidemiological surveys.
• The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) is a widely used screening instrument.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a French version of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL).
• To assess the concurrent validity of the French CBCL using the Rutter scale.
• To determine an optimal cut-off score for the French CBCL in a clinical sample.

Main Methods:

• A French version of the Child Behaviour Checklist was developed.
• A pilot study was conducted on a clinical sample (N=127).
• Concurrent validity was assessed using the Rutter scale as a criterion measure.

Main Results:

• A high correlation (r=0.79) was found between the total scores of the French CBCL and the Rutter scale.
• Individual item correlations ranged from 0.22 to 0.96.
• Linear regression analysis identified an optimal cut-off score of 41 for the French CBCL.

Conclusions:

• The French version of the Child Behaviour Checklist demonstrates good concurrent validity and reliability.
• The identified cut-off score of 41 provides a useful threshold for screening child psychiatric disorders.
• The validated French CBCL is suitable for epidemiological surveys of child psychiatric disorders in French-speaking communities.