Psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory in Chinese children aged 8-11 years

The Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI) is a comprehensive assessment tool for youth psychopathology; however, its psychometric properties have not been established in China.

This study aimed to translate the CABI into Chinese and conduct a thorough evaluation of its reliability and validity in a sample of school-aged Chinese children.

Mothers of 1028 Chinese children (53.3% boys; aged 8-11 years) completed the Chinese version of the CABI. A subsample also completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for validity testing. Psychometric properties were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, exploratory confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analyses, and item response theory (IRT).

The Chinese CABI scores demonstrated excellent internal consistency. The proposed 11-factor model showed a good fit to the data (comparative fit index = 0.980, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.034, standardized root mean square residual = 0.047), supporting its structural validity. The scale scores exhibited strong convergent and discriminant validity, with scores correlating strongly with conceptually similar scales on the CBCL and the SDQ. Moreover, the CABI scores demonstrated robust criterion validity by effectively differentiating children with clinical-level problems identified by the CBCL. IRT analyses confirmed that the scale scores provided high measurement precision for moderate-to-high trait levels, supporting their utility for clinical screening. Most of the positive properties mentioned above were consistent between boys and girls.

The CABI scale scores on the Chinese parent version showed excellent reliability and validity in Chinese children. Thus, it yields a precise instrument for the assessment of emotional, behavioral, and functional problems in clinical practice and epidemiologic research among Chinese children.