The Child Behavioral Checklist as a Predictor of Selected DSM III-R Diagnoses.

Achenbach's Child Behavioral Check List (CBCL) is an instrument that is administered to the parents of many thousands of children and adolescent annually in school systems and mental health agencies. It is a standardized instrument with age norms for males and females, on which parents rate their child's behavior. The CBCL consists of nine behavioral scales, but for boys and girls ages 4-5 and for girls ages 12-16, only eight scales are reported. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the CBCL profiles and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised, (DSM-III-R) diagnostic classification, and to test the relationship between the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores and the CBCL profiles. Findings based on data from 977 children and adolescents receiving treatment at one mental health center revealed no significant relationships between CBCL profiles and DSM-III-R diagnostic classifications or between the CBCL profiles and GAF scores. These findings suggest that, until further information is obtained, when the CBCL is used to make clinical judgment, it should be interpreted with caution. (NB)