ARTICLES
Daily Behavior Ratings Among Child and Adolescent Inpatients: The Abbreviated Child Behavior Rating Form

https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199911000-00017Get rights and content

ABSTRACT

Objective

Child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient facilities are in need of standardized behavior rating scales to assess continuous change in patient behaviors. This study used daily staff ratings to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Child Behavior Rating Form (CBRF-A).

Method

Three hundred eighty-seven inpatients, aged 3 to 17 years, were rated daily by unit staff. Subsamples of patients and/or their parents completed additional measures of behavior problems (Child Behavior Checklist, Functional Impairment Scale for Children and Adolescents) to assess the instrument's validity.

Results

Confirmatory factor analyses identified 5 behavior problem dimensions (Oppositionalism, Attention Problems, Overactivity, Withdrawal/Depression, and Anxiety), a second-order Externalizing dimension, and 2 positive behavior dimensions (Positive/Adaptive Social and Compliance/Self-Control). The scales were found to be internally consistent and showed expected age differences, and the scale factor structures were relatively stable over 1− and 2-week intervals. The scales correlated meaningfully with parent ratings of child behavior problems and functional impairment and were predictive of total hospital days.

Conclusions

The psychometric properties of the CBRF-A appear adequate for daily inpatient rating; additional research is needed to determine the usefulness of the CBRF-A in assessing treatment and medication effects over the hospital stay.

REFERENCES (23)

  • CK Conners et al.

    Rating scales and checklists for child psychopharmacology

    Psychopharmacol Bull

    (1985)
  • Cited by (6)

    The authors thank Rivendell of Michigan Hospital and Vendell Corporation for their financial and moral backing of this program, the patients and parents who provided information for this study, and the research assistants who aided in data collection.

    View full text