Child Behavior Checklist


The Child Behavior Checklist is a widely used caregiver report form identifying problem behavior in children. It is widely used in both research and clinical practice with youths. It has been translated into more than 90 languages, and normative data are available integrating information from multiple societies. Because a core set of the items have been included in every version of the CBCL since the 1980s, it provides a meter stick for measuring whether amounts of behavior problems have changed over time or across societies. This is a helpful complement to other approaches for looking at rates of mental-health issues, as the definitions of disorders have changed repeatedly over the same time frame.
It is a component in the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment developed by Thomas M. Achenbach.

Versions and nature of test

Across versions, the first pages of the CBCL record demographic information and ratings of positive behaviors, academic functioning, and social competence. The last two pages list common behavior problems, each listed as a brief statement about the child's behavior, e.g., Acts too young for his/her age. Responses are recorded on a Likert scale: 0 = Not True, 1 = Somewhat or Sometimes True, 2 = Very True or Often True. The Child Behavior Checklist exists in two different versions, depending on the age of the child being referred to.

Preschool

For the preschool version of the CBCL, parents or others who interact with the child in regular contexts rate the child's behavior. Respondents rate the child's behavior on a 3-point scale, and are instructed to rate the behavior as it occurs now or within the previous two months. This delineation differs from the instructions on other age-versions, due to the fact that rapid development and behavioral changes in the preschool age range are common. The preschool checklist contains 100 problem behavior questions.

School-age

Like on the preschool version, the school-age version of the CBCL instructs a respondent who knows the child well to report on the child's problems. Alternative measures are available for teachers and the child. The school-age checklist contains 118 problem behavior questions.

Scoring

The main scoring for the CBCL is based on statistical groupings of sets of behaviors that typically occur together. The original scale used principal components analysis to group the items, and more recent research has used confirmatory factor analysis to test the structure. Similar questions are grouped into a number of syndrome scale scores, and their scores are summed to produce a raw score for that syndrome.
The eight empirically-based syndrome scales are:
  1. Aggressive Behavior
  2. Anxious/Depressed
  3. Attention Problems
  4. Rule-Breaking Behavior
  5. Somatic Complaints
  6. Social Problems
  7. Thought Problems
  8. Withdrawn/Depressed.
There are two "broad band" scales that combine several of the syndrome scales: Internalizing problems sums the Anxious/depressed, Withdrawn-depressed, and Somatic complaints scores; Externalizing problems combines Rule-breaking and Aggressive behavior. There also is a Total problems score, which is the sum of the scores of all the problem items.
After 2001, the CBCL also included a set of "DSM-oriented" scales, made of items that a panel of experts picked as matching parts of the diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV disorders. The CBCL also has a few items that only contribute to the Total score, which were considered clinically important even though too rare to lump into the syndrome scales.
The CBCL also uses a normative sample to create standard scores. These compare the raw score to what would be typical compared to responses for youths of the same gender and similar age. The standard scores are scaled so that 50 is average for the youth's age and gender, with a standard deviation of 10 points. Higher scores indicate greater problems. For each syndrome, Internalizing and Externalizing problem scales, and the total score, scores can be interpreted as falling in the normal, borderline, or clinical behavior. Any score that falls below the 93rd percentile is considered normal, scores between the 93-97th percentile are borderline clinical, and any score above the 97th percentile are in the clinical range.
Norms take into account both age and gender; there are separate norms for girls and boys, and separate norms for ages 6–11 and ages 12–18.

Psychometric properties

Reliability

refers to whether the scores are reproducible. Unless otherwise specified, the reliability scores and values come from studies done with a United States population sample.
CriterionRating Explanation with references
NormsExcellentNational probability samples used to establish norms.
Internal Consistency Ranges from Good to Excellent Empirically Based Scales
  • Anxious/Depressed =.84
  • Withdrawn/Depressed =.80
  • Somatic Complaints =.78
  • Social Problems =.82
  • Thought Problems =.78
  • Attention Problems =.86
  • Rule-Breaking Behavior =.85
  • Aggressive Behavior =.94
  • Internalizing Broad Band Score =.90
  • Externalizing Broad Band Score =.94
  • Total Problems Score =.97
DSM-Oriented Scales
  • Affective Problems =.82
  • Anxiety Problems =.72
  • Somatic Problems =.75
  • ADHD Problems =.84
  • Oppositional Defiant Problems =.86
  • Conduct Problems =.91
Inter-rater reliability AdequateEmpirically Based Scales
  • Anxious/Depressed =.68
  • Withdrawn/Depressed =.69
  • Somatic Complaints =.65
  • Social Problems =.77
  • Thought Problems =.75
  • Attention Problems =.73
  • Rule-Breaking Behavior =.85
  • Aggressive Behavior =.82
  • Internalizing Broad Band Score =.72
  • Externalizing Broad Band Score =.85
  • Total Problems Score =.80
    • DSM-Oriented Scales
    • Affective Problems =.69
    • Anxiety Problems =.66
    • Somatic Problems =.63
    • ADHD Problems =.70
    • Oppositional Defiant Problems =.74
    • Conduct Problems =.88
    Test-retest reliabilityAdequater =.85 for the preschool version and r =.90 for the school-age version over 6–18 days.