Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

T M Achenbach

Publications and source records attributed to T M Achenbach.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Problems reported for clinically referred American and Dutch children.

Child Behavior Checklists completed by parents of 50 children of each sex at each age from 4 to 16 seen in 28 American and 21 Dutch mental health services (N = 2,600) were examined. Analyses controlling for sex, age, and socioeconomic status showed somewhat higher total problem scores for American than Dutch children, with a mean of 57.27 versus 53.18 on a scale ranging from 0 to 240. This nationality difference accounted for less than 1% of the variance in total scores. American children obtained higher scores on more externalizing items than Dutch children. Small but significant differences in total, externalizing, and internalizing problems found between the two samples may reflect nationality differences in referral patterns. Competence scores were significantly higher for American than Dutch referred children, but did not differ as much as in comparable normative samples. Competence scores may reflect cultural differences more than problem scores do.

Adolescent↗

Epidemiology of behavioral and emotional problems among Thai and American children: teacher reports for ages 6-11.

As a sequel to comparison between reports by parents, we compared behavioral/emotional problems of 6-11-yr-old Thai and American children reported by teachers. These revealed higher ratings for Thai than for American children on nearly all problems showing significant cross-national differences. Thai children were rated higher on both overcontrolled and undercontrolled behavior and had more overcontrolled than undercontrolled problems (p less than 0.0001). Boys were higher than girls on all 48 problems than showed significant sex differences. The findings underscore (1) the impact of culture on children's problems in the school setting and (2) the importance of surveying teacher as well as parent perspectives.

Affective Symptoms↗

Multiaxial empirically based assessment: parent, teacher, observational, cognitive, and personality correlates of child behavior profile types for 6- to 11-year-old boys.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether profile patterns derived from parents' ratings of clinically referred boys were significantly associated with differences in functioning identified via teachers' ratings, direct observations, cognitive tests, and personality measures. Subjects were 185 6- to 11-year-old boys who were referred to an outpatient psychiatric service or school psychologist and whose Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) profiles correlated significantly with types previously identified through cluster analysis. Comparisons of boys classified by six CBCL profile types and Internalizing versus Externalizing groupings of these types showed many differences that are not apt to be evident in linear correlations between the different sources of data. The findings provide a basis for research on differences between profile patterns with respect to etiology, course, prognosis, and responsiveness to interventions. They also indicate the potential importance of higher-order patterns of functioning that extend across multiple sources of data.

Child↗

A comparison of syndromes derived from the child behavior checklist for American and Dutch girls aged 6-11 and 12-16.

Child Behavior Checklists completed by parents of 1848 clinically referred American and Dutch girls aged 6-11 and 12-16 were subjected to principal components analyses with varimax rotations. For the 6-11 yr age group, seven of the nine empirically derived syndromes showed cross-national correlations ranging from 0.80 to 0.98. For 12-16-yr-old girls, all eight of the American syndromes were firmly replicated for Dutch girls with correlations ranging from 0.84 to 0.97. Furthermore, cross-national similarities in the distribution of scores for normative samples supported the use of the same syndrome scales by clinicians and researchers in the two countries.

Adolescent↗

Minimizing adverse effects of low birthweight: four-year results of an early intervention program.

The outcome of an early intervention program for low-birthweight (LBW) infants was examined in this study. The intervention consisted of 11 sessions, beginning during the final week of hospitalization and extending into the home over a 3-month period. The program aimed to facilitate maternal adjustment to the care of a LBW infant, and, indirectly, to enhance the child's development. Neonates weighing less than 2,200 grams and under 37 weeks gestational age were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. A full-term, normal birthweight (NBW) group served as a second control. 6-month analyses of dyads who completed all assessments over a 4-year period (N's = 25 LBW experimental, 29 LBW control, and 28 NBW infant-mother dyads) showed that the experimental group mothers reported significantly greater self-confidence and satisfaction with mothering, as well as more favorable perception of infant temperament than LBW control group mothers. A progressive divergence between the LBW experimental and LBW control children on cognitive scores culminated in significant group differences on the McCarthy GCI at ages 36 and 48 months, when the LBW experimental group caught up to the NBW group. Possible explanations for the observed delay in the emergence of intervention effects on cognitive development and the mediating role of favorable mother-infant transactional patterns are discussed in light of recent evidence from the literature.

Child, Preschool↗

Empirically based assessment of the behavioral/emotional problems of 2- and 3- year-old children.

The aim was to determine whether ratings of 2- and 3-year-olds could yield more differentiation among their behavioral/emotional problems than the internalizing-externalizing dichotomy found in previous studies. The 99-item Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 2-3 (CBCL/2-3) was designed to extend previously developed empirically based assessment procedures to 2-and 3-year-olds. Factor analyses of the CBCL/2-3 completed by parents of 398 2- and 3-year-olds yielded six syndromes having at least eight items loading greater than or equal to .30 and designated as Social Withdrawal, Depressed, Sleep Problems, Somatic Problems, Aggressive, and Destructive. Second-order analyses showed that the first two were related to a broad-band internalizing grouping, whereas the last two were related to a broad-band externalizing grouping. Scales for the six syndromes, two broad-band groupings, and total problem score were constructed from scores obtained by 273 children in a general population sample. Mean test-retest reliability r was .87, 1-year stability r was .69, 1-year predictive r with CBCL/4-16 scales at age 4 was .63, 2-year predictive r was .55, and 3-year predictive r was .49. Children referred for mental health services scored significantly higher than nonreferred children on all scales. A lack of significant r's with the Minnesota Child Development Inventory, Bayley, and McCarthy indicate that the CBCL/2-3 taps behavioral/emotional problems independently of the developmental variance tapped by these measures.

Affective Symptoms↗

A comparison of syndromes derived from the Child Behavior Checklist for American and Dutch boys aged 6-11 and 12-16.

Child Behavior Checklists completed by parents of 1863 clinically referred American and Dutch boys aged 6-11 and 12-16 were subjected to principal components analyses with varimax rotations. For each age group, the construct validity of seven empirically derived syndromes was supported by cross-national correlations ranging from 0.80 to 0.98. These syndromes were designated as Aggressive, Delinquent, Depressed (ages 6-11 only), Hyperactive, Schizoid (ages 12-16 only), Somatic Complaints, Uncommunicative, and Withdrawal (Social Withdrawal for ages 6-11; Hostile Withdrawal for ages 12-16). Cross-national similarities in the distribution of scores for normative samples supported the use of the same syndrome scales by clinicians and researchers in the two countries. The cross-national construct validity of Obsessive-Compulsive and Immature syndromes did not receive adequate support.

Adolescent↗

Psychopathology of childhood.

We considered problems of assessment and taxonomy that have hindered the study of childhood disorders. Many instruments have been developed for assessing children's behavior as seen by parents, teachers, clinicians, trained observers, peers, and children themselves. Multivariate analyses of behavior problems show consistencies in the identification of a few broad-band patterns and more numerous narrow-band syndromes, despite differences in specific items comprising different instruments. Satisfactory reliability has been achieved in many instances, although the variability of children's problem behavior limits agreement among informants who see children under different conditions. Despite their disagreements, however, each informant's perspective may validly contribute to the comprehensive assessment of a child's needs. The quantitative, relativistic, and developmental aspects of children's behavior disorders argue for replacing categorical approaches to assessment and taxonomy with taxometric approaches that capitalize on quantitative methods for identifying and assessing children's behavioral problems and competencies.

Child↗

Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged four through sixteen.

The study was designed (a) to provide prevalence data on behavioral problems and competencies, (b) to identify differences related to demographic variables, and (c) to compare clinically referred and demographically similar nonreferred children. Data were obtained with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), consisting of 20 social competence items and 118 behavior problems. Parents of 1,300 referred children completed the CBCL at intake into outpatient mental health services, while parents of 1,300 randomly selected nonreferred children completed the CBCL in a home interview survey. Intraclass correlations were in the .90s for interparent agreement, 1-week test-retest reliability, and inter-interviewer reliability. Indices of the reported prevalence of each item are graphically portrayed for children grouped by age, gender, and clinical status. Multiple regressions and ANCOVAs showed minimal racial differences but significant tendencies for lower SES children to have higher behavior problem and lower competence scores than upper SES children. There were numerous gender differences on specific items but no significant gender difference in total behavior problem or competence score. Age showed more and larger differences than the other demographic variables, but these differences were dwarfed by differences related to referral status. Across all demographic groups, referal status accounted for more variance in total behavior problem and social competence scores than in the scores for any single item. However, some behavior problems that have traditionally received little attention were much more strongly associated with referral status than problems that have received much attention. Cutoff points on the distributions of total behavior problem and social competence scores yield good separation between referred and nonreferred samples.

Achievement↗

A typology of child behavior profile patterns: distribution and correlates for disturbed children aged 6--16.

This article reports the construction of a typology of behavior problem patterns, as scored on the Child Behavior Profile. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify reliable profile patterns that characterize clinically referred boys and girls aged 6-11 and 12-16. Procedures for classifying the profiles of individual children were developed and good agreement was obtained between classifications based on rating by mothers and a clinician. The distribution of profile patterns was determined for each age and sex group. Children classified by different patterns were found to differ significantly in age, race, school performance, and amount and quality of participation in activities and social relationships. Issues in the application of cluster analysis to behavioral data were analyzed and various options for the classification of individual cases were compared.

Adolescent↗