title: The child vulnerability scale: an instrument to measure parental perceptions of child vulnerability.
abstract: Developed and validated an instrument for identifying children perceived as vulnerable. Mothers of 1,095 children, aged 4-8 years, completed interviews that included the original 12-item Child Vulnerability Scale. Eight items that correlated best with each of two major variables that contribute to vulnerability were retained in the revised scale and a cutoff score was identified for children perceived as vulnerable. The internal consistency of the revised scale was good. Using the revised scale, 10.1% of children were identified as perceived vulnerable. Children categorized as perceived vulnerable had a significant increase in behavior problems and acute medical visits. The revised Child Vulnerability Scale should be useful in providing a better understanding of the causes and effects of an important factor in child development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA.
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Horwitz
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Leaf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012803:Sick Role