Clinical validity of a brief measure of early childhood social-emotional/behavioral problems.

OBJECTIVE To address a pressing need for measures of clinically significant social-emotional/behavioral problems in young children by examining several validity indicators for a brief parent-report questionnaire. METHODS An ethnically and economically diverse sample of 213 referred and nonreferred 2- and 3-year-olds was studied. The validity of the Brief Infant-Toddler Social-Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) Problem Index and Internalizing and Externalizing scales was evaluated relative to a "gold standard" diagnostic interview, as well as the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS The validity of the BITSEA Problem Index relative to Diagnosis (sensitivity = 72.7%-80.8%, specificity = 70.0%-83.3%) and clinical-range CBCL scores (sensitivity = 80.0%-96.2%, specificity = 75.0%-89.9%) was supported in the full sample and within minority/nonminority groups. Additional results supported the validity of the BITSEA Internalizing and Externalizing scales. CONCLUSIONS Documented validity suggests that the BITSEA may be a valuable tool to aid screening, identification, and assessment efforts targeting early-emergent social-emotional/behavioral problems. Practical implications and generalizability are discussed.