Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on March 3, 2005
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2006 31(4):431-435; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsj006
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Screening for Preschool Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with the Child Behavior Checklist
1 University of New Orleans and 2 Tulane University
All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Christopher Dehon, Ph.D., LSU Health Sciences Center, Juvenile Justice Program, 1600 Canal Street, Suite 1200, New Orleans, LA 70112. E-mail: cdehon{at}lsuhsc.edu.
Received January 24, 2004; revisions received August 29, 2004 and December 6, 2004; accepted January 24, 2005
Objective To examine the psychometric properties and utility of a Child Behavior ChecklistPosttraumatic Stress Disorder (CBCLPTSD) Scale to screen for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in traumatized preschool children. Method Data for this study were drawn from a study of young child trauma and consisted of 62 traumatized children, 23 months through 6 years of age. The childrens mothers were interviewed about PTSD symptoms and then completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Results The modified CBCLPTSD correlated highly with the number of PTSD symptoms from the interview (r = 0.66). The CBCLPTSD scale predicted PTSD symptoms above and beyond the internalizing and externalizing scales of the CBCL. A cutoff score of nine on this scale possessed the best sensitivity and specificity in classifying those traumatized children who met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Conclusion The modified CBCLPTSD scale could be a useful cost-effective tool to screen for PTSD in traumatized, preschool-age children.
Key words: Child Behavior Checklist; posttraumatic stress disorder; preschool.