Citation

Sorsa J, Fontell T, Laajasalo T, Aronen ET. Scand. J. Psychol. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, Laboratory of Developmental Psychopathology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Scandinavian Psychological Associations, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sjop.12541

PMID

31099031

Abstract

Assessment of behavioral disorders is one of the most commonly encountered tasks in child psychiatry. The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) is a widespread measurement tool used for assessing conduct problems, though the psychometric properties of the tool have varied in different samples. In this study, the ECBI was evaluated in a Finnish population based sample of children aged 4 to 12 years (n = 1,715). Factor structure and internal consistency of the ECBI and associates of behavioral problems in Finnish children were evaluated. The results showed that a unidimensional one-factor solution for the ECBI intensity scale was the best fit for the data. The ECBI mean scores were considerably higher in our sample compared to other Nordic countries. Boys scored higher than girls on both ECBI scales, and the mean scores decreased with child's age. Socioeconomic status (SES) was weakly connected to the ECBI scores. Our results highlight the need for country specific reference norms in order to improve the clinical utility of evidence-based measures for assessing conduct problems.

© 2019 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

assessment; children; conduct problems; questionnaire