Parent assessment of psychological and behavioral functioning following pediatric acquired brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
Compare the measured prevalence rate of psychopathology and behavior disorders in 29 children with acquired brain injuries using four parent-report instruments.


METHODS
Two questionnaires, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC-R) and two interview measures, the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA-R) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), were completed following injury or diagnosis.


RESULTS
The DICA-R identified the highest prevalence of anxiety disorders and acting-out behaviors, whereas the CBCL identified the lowest prevalence. Opposite results were found within the domain of attentional problems. Interview measures were more concordant for global psychological impairment than were questionnaires.


CONCLUSIONS
Discordant findings across measures are discussed in terms of type of disorder, classification model, response format, item characteristics, and scaling.
Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta 30303-3083, USA. mlgreen@mindspring.com
M L
ML
Green
M A
MA
Foster
M K
MK
Morris
J J
JJ
Muir
R D
RD
Morris
D000293:Adolescent; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results