Screening and Assessment Tools for Child Welfare

Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) has received the Assessment Rating of "A - Reliability and Validity Demonstrated" based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The assessment must have 2 or more published, peer-reviewed studies that demonstrated that the measure is reliable and valid. For more information on all of the Assessment Ratings, please click here.

Gardner, W., Lucas, A., Kolko, D. J., & Campo, J. V. (2007). Comparison of the PSC-17 and alternative mental health screens in an at-risk primary care sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(5), 611-618.

Sample:
Participants: 269 children and adolescents 8 to 15 years, obtained through primary care physicians in Pennsylvania.
Race/Ethnicity: Not given.

Summary: Parents completed the PSC-17 during an office visit. Based on scores, some children were classified as "at-risk". Parents also completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and children completed the Children's Depression Inventory during a psychiatric interview. The interview protocol also used the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Versions (K-SADS-PL). Results indicated that the PSC-17 performed as well as other screening instruments in identifying ADHD, externalizing disorders and depression, but was less sensitive in identifying anxiety.

Kostanecka, A., Power, T., Clarke, A., Watkins, M., Hausman, C., & Blum, N. J. (2008). Behavioral health screening in urban primary care settings: Construct validity of the PSC-17. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 29(2), 124-128.

Sample:
Participants: 331 families with children between 4 and 12 years of age obtained through a primary care practice serving a low-income population.
Race/Ethnicity: 88% African American, 7% biracial, 5% other.

Summary: The analysis of this data supports a hypothesis that there is a 3-factor structure for the scale. The items clustered into internalizing, externalizing and attention-related subscales. However, some items on the attention and externalizing scales did not conform exclusively to those scales, so the authors recommend caution in interpreting those subscales.