Psychometric Properties of the Brief Problem Monitor-parent Form in Community and Clinical Samples of Brazilian Children

摘要

The Brief Problem Monitor-Parent Form (BPM-B) is a brief version of the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL/6-18), aiming to monitor emotional/behavioral problems in children from the parent's perspective. This study verified the psychometric properties of the BPM-P in Brazilian children. Participants included a community sample of 793 children without emotional/behavioral problem complaints, and a clinical sample of 25 children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Disorder (ADHD) matched for age and gender. Parents completed the CBCL/6-18, and children completed an individually administered intelligence test. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the adequacy of the of second order hierarchical model according with Brazilian sample. Internal consistency coefficients were satisfactory for the three scales (= 0.67-0.80). The results regarding convergent validity between BPM-P and CBCL scores showed strong Pearson correlation coefficients between the internalizing problems scale of the BPM-P and the CBCL (r = 0.84, p < 0.01), between the externalizing problems scale of the BPM-P and the CBCL (r = 0.91, p < 0.01, and between the attention problems scale of the BPM-P and the CBCL (r = 0.95, p < 0.01). Gender differences were observed (boys scoring higher than girls) with small effect for Attention Problems Scale/ Cohen's d = -.27). The discriminative power of the BPM-P between clinic and non-clinic groups showed a discriminative power varying between 76 and 78. The results showed that the BPM-P is a useful tool to be used in different contexts for screening and monitoring mental health problems in the Brazilian child and adolescent population.