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Comparative Study
. 2010 Dec;49(12):1215-24.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.08.019. Epub 2010 Nov 11.

Preschool psychopathology reported by parents in 23 societies: testing the seven-syndrome model of the child behavior checklist for ages 1.5-5

Masha Y Ivanova  1 , Thomas M Achenbach, Leslie A Rescorla, Valerie S Harder, Rebecca P Ang, Niels Bilenberg, Gudrun Bjarnadottir, Christiane Capron, Sarah S W De Pauw, Pedro Dias, Anca Dobrean, Manfred Doepfner, Michele Duyme, Valsamma Eapen, Nese Erol, Elaheh Mohammad Esmaeili, Lourdes Ezpeleta, Alessandra Frigerio, Miguel M Gonçalves, Halldor S Gudmundsson, Suh-Fang Jeng, Pranvera Jetishi, Roma Jusiene, Young-Ah Kim, Solvejg Kristensen, Felipe Lecannelier, Patrick W L Leung, Jianghong Liu, Rosario Montirosso, Kyung Ja Oh, Julia Plueck, Rolando Pomalima, Mimoza Shahini, Jaime R Silva, Zynep Simsek, Andre Sourander, Jose Valverde, Karla G Van Leeuwen, Bernardine S C Woo, Yen-Tzu Wu, Stephen R Zubrick, Frank C Verhulst
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Preschool psychopathology reported by parents in 23 societies: testing the seven-syndrome model of the child behavior checklist for ages 1.5-5

Masha Y Ivanova et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To test the fit of a seven-syndrome model to ratings of preschoolers' problems by parents in very diverse societies.

Method: Parents of 19,106 children 18 to 71 months of age from 23 societies in Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America completed the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5). Confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the seven-syndrome model separately for each society.

Results: The primary model fit index, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), indicated acceptable to good fit for each society. Although a six-syndrome model combining the Emotionally Reactive and Anxious/Depressed syndromes also fit the data for nine societies, it fit less well than the seven-syndrome model for seven of the nine societies. Other fit indices yielded less consistent results than the RMSEA.

Conclusions: The seven-syndrome model provides one way to capture patterns of children's problems that are manifested in ratings by parents from many societies. Clinicians working with preschoolers from these societies can thus assess and describe parents' ratings of behavioral, emotional, and social problems in terms of the seven syndromes. The results illustrate possibilities for culture-general taxonomic constructs of preschool psychopathology. Problems not captured by the CBCL/1.5-5 may form additional syndromes, and other syndrome models may also fit the data.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Dr. Ivanova receives research and salary support from the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families, which publishes the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Dr. Achenbach is President of the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families, and receives remuneration. Dr. Rescorla receives remuneration from the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families. Dr. Harder previously held a University of Vermont Postdoctoral Fellowship funding by the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families. Drs. Bjarnadottir, Gudmundsson, Leung, Verhulst, and Mr. Gudmundsson, receive research support from the sale of the CBCL. Dr. Bilenberg has received honoraria from Eli Lilly and Co., Novartis, Neuroscience, and Janseen Cilag. He has received research support from the Danish Research Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, Hermansens Mindelegat, and Mads Clausen Fond. Dr. Eapen has received research support from the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences. Dr. Jusiene has received research support from the Lithuanian Science and Studies Foundation. Drs. Ang, Capron, Dias, Dobrean, Doepfner, Duyme, Erol, Esmaeili, Ezpeleta, Frigerio, Gonçalves, Jeng, Kim, Liu, Oh, Plueck, Pomalima, Shahini, Silva, Simsek, Sourander, Valverde, Van Leeuwen, and Zubrick, Ms. De Pauw, Ms. Kristensen, Mr. Lecannelier, Ms. Montirosso, Ms. Jetishi, Ms. Woo, and Ms. Wu report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
For the purpose of clear presentation, some latent factor correlations are not depicted. Note: AB = aggressive behavior; AD = anxious/depressed; AP = attention problems; ER = emotionally reactive; S = sleep; SC = somatic complaints; W = withdrawn.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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