Revisiting the 8-syndrome of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in 67257 Chinese school students

The 8-Syndrome structure of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) has been well supported globally, but its validity in the Chinese sample remains untested. A total of 67,257 school students aged 6–16 were included. The Chinese version of the CBCL consists of 118 specific behavioral and emotional items, with two open-ended screening items. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), cluster analysis, and network analysis were employed to test the 8-Syndrome structure in the Chinese CBCL. The Chinese CBCL showed a comparative fit index (CFI) of 0.734, indicating poor fit in the Chinese sample. Cluster and network analyses suggested that Anxious/Depressed (AD), Withdrawn/Depressed (WD), and Thought Problems (TP) might form internalizing factors (representing emotional or thought problems), whereas Aggressive Behavior (AB), Rule-Breaking Behavior (RBB), and Attention Problems (AP) might comprise externalizing factors (representing behavioral problems). Age emerged as a significant factor influencing emotional and behavioral problems in the Chinese sample (p