Pediatric Symptom Checklist-35

Number of participants: 206 parents of children ages 6-12 years

Population:

• Race/Ethnicity — 99% White, 1% Hispanic

Summary:

This paper presents data from the first two studies designed to assess the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the revised PSC as a psychosocial screening questionnaire in outpatient pediatric practice. The validity of the PSC was assessed by ascertaining its rate of agreement with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in screening cases. Preliminary studies indicate that the PSC correlates well with the CBCL, is reliable, and is an easily administered psychosocial screening instrument for children seen in pediatric settings. Within the outpatient pediatric practices studied, the PSC agreed with the longer CBCL in 89% of the cases in classifying children as well or at risk. When the two instruments disagreed, most of the scores were close to the cutoff.

Number of participants: Not Specified

Summary:

The PSC is a 35-item parent-rating scale. The respondent is asked to rate the frequency with which a child exhibits a given behavior. Response format is from 0 ("never") to 2 ("often"). The authors state that the scale is appropriate for use with children 4-16, although the majority of the PSC validation studies have not included children older than 12. It should also be noted that when used with preschoolers, the four PSC items that rate school behavior problems are not included. A total score on the PBS is obtained by summing all items. A cut-off score of 28 is used to identify school-aged children at risk for psychosocial difficulties and a cut-off score of 24 is used for preschoolers. A self-report version of the PSC, the PSC-Y, is also available for adolescents. Use of a cut-off score of 30 on the PSC-Y is recommended to identify adolescents with mental health problems.

Number of participants: 300 pediatric outpatients, aged 6 to 12 years

Summary:

This study assessed the validity and reliability of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) for screening lower-middle-class and minority group children. PSCs were collected from parents of 300 pediatric outpatients aged six to 12 years and 48 of these children and their parents were interviewed in depth. The rate of positive screening was higher for poorer children. Comprehensive interview evaluations and statistical indices suggested that this higher rate was valid. These results indicate that children from minority and lower-middle-class backgrounds were screened as positive on the PSC from 43% to 85% more frequently than nonminority and middle-class children. Although these differences were not statistically significant, the effects were of approximately the same order of magnitude as had been reported for these variables in other studies.

Number of participants: Not specified

Summary:

This study examined the validity of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), a brief parent-completed psychosocial screening questionnaire, in a sample of 166 students from a public middle school. Positive screening on the parent PSC was significantly associated with independent ratings by the students' guidance counselor and teachers of the need for regular counseling; any academic failure during the next 2 years; and PSCs competed by the students about themselves. Most students who screened positive on the parent PSC were found to have significant problems in at least one of the above areas. The PSC also identified a group of students whose difficulties were previously unknown to school personnel.

Number of participants: Not specified

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) as a psychosocial screening instrument. Using the PSC, the researchers screened 212 patients, ages 6-12 years, at a military outpatient pediatric clinic. Twenty-one children with scores in the "high-risk" range were randomly selected and matched with children scoring in the normal, "not-high-risk" range. Two trained interviewers, blind to individual PSC scores, independently interviewed and rated each subject's level of psychosocial functioning on the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a standardized psychosocial measure, was also completed by each subject's mother. PSC scores were compared to the CGAS and CBCL scores in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Additional analyses compared data from the study sample with that of previous studies. Results suggest that the PSC is a valid pediatric psychosocial screening instrument for multiethnic patient populations.

Number of participants: 123 outpatient, 6-12 years

Summary:

Children at an inner-city pediatric clinic was screened for psychosocial dysfunction using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), a brief parent-completed questionnaire. The prevalence of positive screening scores on the PSC was 22%, significantly higher than the rate found in lower middle to upper middle-class samples. Comparing PSC case classifications with comprehensive assessments made by clinicians, overall agreement was 92% (K = 0.82; sensitivity = 88%; specificity = 100%); a comparison with several other measures provided additional support for the validity of the PSC. The PSC's reliability over time was also acceptable. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the PSC is as valid and reliable for screening children from economically disadvantaged and minority backgrounds as it is for middle and upper middle-class populations.

Number of participants: Not specified

Summary:

This study examined the routine implementation of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), a brief questionnaire which screens for psychosocial dysfunction in school-aged children in an outpatient pediatric practice. Results indicated that the PSC was well-accepted by parents and adequately tolerated by busy clinic staff. When the PSC was included as part of the standard procedure for well-child visits, the referral rate for psychosocial problems due to positive PSC scores rose to 12% from the clinic baseline referral rate of 1.5%, a significant increase (P<.01). Half of the children who screened positive on the PSC had not been previously identified by their pediatricians as having psychosocial problems, and more than half had never received any psychological treatment. When implementation of the PSC was discontinued, the referral rate fell to 2%, a rate similar to baseline. The findings suggest that it is possible to incorporate the PSC into routine pediatric practice and that the PSC can help pediatricians identify and better serve children experiencing psychosocial difficulties. The study also suggests that further work is needed to understand the barriers to ongoing implementation.

Number of participants: 21,065 children between the ages 4-15 years

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibly of routine psychosocial screening using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) in pediatrics by using a brief version of the checklist in a large sample of representative of the full range of pediatric practice setting in the United States and Canada. Results indicate the overall rate of prevalence of psychosocial dysfunction as measured by the PSC in school-aged and preschool-aged pediatric outpatients (13% and 10%, respectively) were nearly identical to the rates that had been reported in several similar samples (12%-14% among school aged children and 7-14% among preschoolers). Consistent with previous findings children from low-income families were twice as likely to be scored as dysfunctional on the PSC than were children from higher-income families. Similarly, children with a single parent as opposed to those from 2-parent families, and children with a past history of mental health services, showed an elevated risk of psychosocial impairment.