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Psychometric properties of the Brief Problem Monitor (BPM) in children with internalizing symptoms: examining
Marit Løtveit Pedersen1, Thomas Jozefiak2, Anne Mari Sund2,3
1Regional Center for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. marit.l.pedersen@ntnu.no.
Insights
The Norwegian Brief Problem Monitor (BPM) shows good reliability and validity for assessing internalizing problems in children. This screening tool aids early identification of attentional and behavioral issues in at-risk youth.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychology
- Psychometric Assessment
- Public Health Screening
Background:
- Early identification of mental health issues in children is crucial for prevention and reducing healthcare costs.
- Reliable and valid screening tools are needed to assess child functioning and developmental trajectories.
- The Brief Problem Monitor (BPM) is designed for efficient screening of emotional and behavioral problems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Norwegian versions of the parent (BPM-P) and teacher (BPM-T) forms of the BPM.
- To assess the internal reliability and construct validity of the BPM for identifying internalizing problems in children aged 8-12.
- To examine multi-informant agreement between parent and teacher ratings.
Main Methods:
- Utilized baseline data from a national randomized controlled intervention study.
- Included children aged 8-12 with self-reported anxiety/depression symptoms above the population mean.
- Administered BPM-P to 596 parents and BPM-T to 750 teachers.
- Analyzed internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and construct validity via confirmatory factor analysis.
Main Results:
- Both BPM-P and BPM-T demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .763–.878).
- Moderate agreement was found between parent and teacher ratings for externalizing, attention, and total scores; low agreement for internalizing problems.
- Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure, with excellent model fit for BPM-P and good fit for BPM-T.
Conclusions:
- The Norwegian BPM-P and BPM-T exhibit good internal consistency and confirm the original three-factor structure.
- The BPM appears to be a valid and reliable short assessment tool for attentional, behavioral, and internalizing problems in at-risk school children.
- Findings support the BPM's utility in early identification and intervention for childhood emotional and behavioral difficulties.
Background:
Prevention is essential to reduce the development of symptomology among children and adolescents into disorders, thereby improving public health and reducing costs. Therefore, easily administered screening and early assessment methods with good reliability and validity are necessary to effectively identify children's functioning and how these develop. The Brief Problem Monitor (BPM) is an instrument designed for this purpose. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the BPM parent (BPM-P) and teacher (BPM-T) versions, including internal reliability and construct validity at assessing children with internalizing problems.
Methods:
Baseline data were collected from a national randomized controlled intervention study. Children aged 8-12 years with self-reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depression with one standard deviation above a chosen population's mean were included in this study. Teachers (n = 750) and parents (n = 596) rated children using the BPM-T and BPM-P, respectively. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha, and multi-informant agreement between the BPM-P and BPM-T was measured using Spearman's correlations. Construct validity was assessed via confirmatory factor analysis.
Results:
Internal consistency was good throughout all domains for both the BPM-P and BPM-T, with a Cronbach's alpha ranging from .763 to .878. Multi-informant agreement between the parents and the teacher was moderate on the externalizing, attention, and total scales and low on the internalizing scale. The model fit for the three-factor structure of the BPM was excellent for the BPM-P and good for the BPM-T.
Conclusions:
Internal consistency was good, and the original three-factor solution of the BPM-P and BPM-T was confirmed based on our sample of school children at-risk for emotional problems. These promising results indicate that the BPM may be a valid short assessment tool for measuring attentional, behavioral, and internalizing problems in children. Trial registration in Clinical Trials: NCT02340637; June 12, 2014.
