Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2026 Mar 13:13591045261431338. doi: 10.1177/13591045261431338. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
ObjectivePrevious research has yielded mixed findings regarding the validity of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) DSM-Oriented Scales (DOSs) in identifying DSM diagnoses. The present study evaluates the concurrent validity of the DOSs by comparing scale classifications with a gold-standard clinical interview.MethodsParticipants (N = 11,851) were children in the NIH Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study whose caregivers completed the CBCL and the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS) semi-structured interview at baseline (9.92 years, SD = 0.63), two-year follow-up (12.03 years, SD = 0.67), or both.Results2,321 (19.59%) children at baseline and 1,708 (15.57%) participants at two-year follow-up met criteria for one or more KSADS disorders. Sensitivity of the CBCL relative to KSADS diagnoses was generally low (10.36% – 75.00%), with only two scales above 50%. Specificity was high (92.47% – 97.07%). Positive predictive values were low (0.71% – 48.20%), and negative predictive values were high (89.84% – 99.90%). Area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.55 to 0.84.DiscussionIn the present sample, the DOSs showed poor concurrent validity with a gold standard clinical interview. Caution should be exercised when using the CBCL due to the high rates of false negatives.
PMID:41823283 | DOI:10.1177/13591045261431338
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