Usefulness of the Child Behavior Checklist in assessing behavior problems in children.

Abstract

Usefulness of the Child Behavior Checklist in assessing behaviorproblems in children. Objectives: The Child Behavior Checklist is usedto assess behavioral problems in a large unselected sample of children.In the present study we assess the usefulness of the CBCL in theevaluation of the typical behavioral problems usually reported inchildren with developmental disorders,Methods: We examined two groups of children which both had language orcommunication problems. The first group consisted of 34 children withinfantile autism, the secund group consisted of 34 age-, sex- andIQ-matched children with a specific developmental speech and languagedisorder. The CBCL was filled out by the parents in both groups as partof the routine diagnostic procedures.Results: Half of the language-impaired children have Total BehavioralProblem scores within the clinical range. Problems are mainly reportedon the scales ``Attention Problems{''}, ``Social Problems{''} and``Withdrawn{''}, autistic children score within the clinical range onthe ``Thought Problems{''}, whereas only one language-impaired childdoes so. Single item analysis shows a high prevalence of developmentalproblems (speech problems, enuresis...) in both groups.Conclusion: The CBCL records characteristic behavioral problems inchildren with developmental disorders. The problematic behaviors areshown on the syndrome scale level as well as on the single item level.Children with developmental disorders and high scores on the ``ThoughtProblems{''} scale of the CBCL should be evaluated for the presence of apossible pervasive developmental disorder.