Citation

Tarren-Sweeney M. Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 2007; 29(5): 672-691.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.01.008

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Population and clinical surveys of the mental health of children in foster, kinship and residential care have failed to account for a range of problems manifested by such children, largely because measurement has been restricted to standard parent-report checklists. These under-researched problems include attachment-related difficulties, anxiety and dissociative responses to trauma, age-inappropriate sexual behavior and self-harm. The Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) was developed to measure such problems in a prospective epidemiological study of children in long-term care. The ACC is a 120-item carer-report psychiatric rating instrument, measuring behaviors, emotional states, traits, and manners of relating to others, as manifested by children in care. Content was developed systematically, with a view to measuring all clinically significant problems experienced by children in alternate care that are not adequately measured by standard parent-report checklists. Ten clinical and two low self-esteem scales were empirically derived via factor analysis, and labeled: Sexual behavior; pseudomature interpersonal behavior; non-reciprocal interpersonal behavior; indiscriminate interpersonal behavior; insecure interpersonal behavior; anxious-distrustful; abnormal pain response; food maintenance; self-injury; suicide discourse; negative self-image; and low confidence. Initial data indicate that the instrument has good content, construct and criterion-related validity. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Foster care; Developmental psychopathology; Out-of-home care; Assessment Checklist for Children; Attachment disorders