Screening for preschool posttraumatic stress disorder with the Child Behavior Checklist.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the psychometric properties and utility of a Child Behavior Checklist-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CBCL-PTSD) Scale to screen for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in traumatized preschool children.


METHODS
Data for this study were drawn from a study of young child trauma and consisted of 62 traumatized children, 23 months through 6 years of age. The children's mothers were interviewed about PTSD symptoms and then completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).


RESULTS
The modified CBCL-PTSD correlated highly with the number of PTSD symptoms from the interview (r = 0.66). The CBCL-PTSD scale predicted PTSD symptoms above and beyond the internalizing and externalizing scales of the CBCL. A cutoff score of nine on this scale possessed the best sensitivity and specificity in classifying those traumatized children who met diagnostic criteria for PTSD.


CONCLUSIONS
The modified CBCL-PTSD scale could be a useful cost-effective tool to screen for PTSD in traumatized, preschool-age children.
Dehon
Christopher
C
University of New Orleans, LA, USA. cdehon@lsuhsc.edu
Scheeringa
Michael S
MS
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009035:Mothers; D015588:Observer Variation; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires