Brief Report: Psychometric Properties of the Brief Problem Monitor-Parent (BPM-P) 6-18 in a Sample of Children...

Area of Science:

• Child psychology and psychiatry
• Clinical assessment tools
• Neurodevelopmental disorders research

Background:

• Emotional and behavioral problems are critical to monitor in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).
• The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a standard tool, but its length can be burdensome for caregivers.
• The Brief Problem Monitor Parent Report (BPM-P) is a shorter alternative, but its validity in ASD/NDD populations was unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity and utility of the BPM-P for monitoring emotional and behavior problems in children with ASD and NDDs.
• To compare the BPM-P's performance against the established CBCL in a clinical sample.
• To assess the BPM-P's internal consistency, factor structure, and agreement with CBCL clinical cutoffs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 302 children (ages 6-18) whose caregivers completed both the CBCL and BPM-P.
• Conducted confirmatory factor analysis on the BPM-P's three-factor structure.
• Assessed internal consistency of BPM-P scales and agreement between BPM-P and CBCL clinical cutoffs.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory factor analysis yielded mixed results for the BPM-P's three-factor structure.
• All BPM-P scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency.
• Agreement between BPM-P and CBCL broad problem scales was acceptable; the Attention scale showed high sensitivity but poor specificity.

Conclusions:

• The BPM-P may serve as a time-efficient alternative to the CBCL for assessing broad emotional and behavior problems in children with ASD/NDDs.
• Caregivers may benefit from the reduced time commitment associated with the BPM-P.
• Further research with larger samples and independent administrations is needed to confirm these findings, particularly regarding the Attention scale's specificity.