Citation

Lau C, Stewart SL, Saklofske DH, Tremblay PF, Hirdes J. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2018; 49(2): 279-289.

Affiliation

School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10578-017-0751-y

PMID

28791517

Abstract

The present study aims to validate the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health (interRAI ChYMH), Disruptive/Aggression Behaviour Scale (DABS) and Hyperactive/Distraction Scale (HDS). Data were collected from children/youth aged 4-18 (N = 3464) across 39 mental health agencies in Ontario, Canada. Unrestricted factor analysis using polychoric correlation matrices and Samejima's graded item response theory (IRT) parameterizations were conducted for both measures. Scores on the HDS and DABS were also compared amongst children/youth diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD) respectively using DSM-IV criteria.

RESULTS from the factor analysis and IRT analysis demonstrated good measurement properties. Using a receiver operating characteristics curve, the area under the curve (AUC) for the HDS and DABS is 0.79 and 0.75 for a diagnosis of ADHD and DBD respectively. Overall, converging results suggest that the interRAI HDS and DABS may serve as effective measures that detect externalizing mental health indicators.

Language: en

Keywords

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Mental health services; Psychometrics; interRAI