title: Problem of item overlap between the psychopathy screening device and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder rating scales.
abstract: Content validity requires a clear definition of the construct of interest and the delineation of the construct from similar constructs. Content validity also requires that the items be representative of the construct as well as specific to the construct. An examination of the items on the Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD), a parent- and teacher-rating scale of childhood psychopathy, indicates significant overlap with the symptoms and associated features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD). The failure of the PSD to have unique items results in poor discriminant validity with ADHD, ODD, and CD rating scales. More careful attention to content validation guidelines is required to develop a more useful measure of childhood psychopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4820, USA. glburns@mail.wsu.edu
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Burns
mesh_terms: D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results