The CBCL as a screen for psychiatric comorbidity in paediatric patients with ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the informativeness of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) as a screening tool to identify comorbid and non-comorbid cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a paediatrically referred population. It was hypothesised that specific scales of the CBCL would help identify specific comorbidities within ADHD cases in the primary care setting.


METHODS
The sample consisted of children and adolescents 6-17 years old of both genders with ADHD (n = 121). A receiver operating curve (ROC) approach was used to determine which CBCL scales best differentiated between ADHD cases with and without its comorbidities with conduct, anxiety, and mood disorders.


RESULTS
ROC analysis showed that the CBCL Delinquent Behavior and Aggressive Behavior scales predicted the structured interview derived diagnoses of conduct and bipolar disorder, the Anxious/Depressed and Aggressive Behavior scales predicted major depression, and the Anxious/Depressed and Attention problems scales predicted anxiety disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
These results extend to a paediatrically referred population with previously reported findings in psychiatric samples documenting good convergence between structured interview diagnoses and syndrome congruent CBCL scales. These findings support the utility of the CBCL as a screening tool for the identification of psychiatric comorbidity in ADHD youth in the primary care setting.
Biederman
J
J
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Center for Patient Care-YAW-6A-6900, Boston, MA 02114, USA. jbiederman@partners.org
Monuteaux
M C
MC
Kendrick
E
E
Klein
K L
KL
Faraone
S V
SV
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis; D000374:Aggression; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity