Introduction
Review
Method
Stage 1: Setting review parameters, literature searching and consultation
Developing the search terms
Categories | Related words and phrases |
---|---|
Measures and approaches to measurement | Measure; questionnaire; survey; checklist; check list; tool; rating scale; scale; repository |
Mental health and psychological wellbeing | Mental health; quality of life; psychological adjustment; behaviour problems; emotional problems; mental illness; mental disorder; psychiatric disorder; behavioural and emotional difficulties; social difficulties; social and behavioural difficulties; conduct problems; internalising; externalising; depressive symptoms; antisocial; self-esteem; pride; prosocial behaviour; sense of belonging; hopefulness; wellbeing; positive self-regard; aggression; anxiety; depression; mood; feeling |
Children | Children; adolescents; paediatrics |
Search of key databases
-
No child mental health outcome measure was mentioned in the abstract;
-
The measure indicated was too narrow to provide a broad assessment of mental health;
-
They referred to a measure not used with children;
-
They were not in English;
-
They were a duplicate;
-
The measure was used solely as a tool for assessment or diagnosis.
Consultation with collaborators and stakeholders
Stage 2: Filtering of measures according to inclusion and exclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria
-
Provided measurement of broad mental health and/or wellbeing in children and young people (up to age 18), including measures of wellbeing and quality of life;
-
Was completed by children;
-
Had been validated in a child or adolescent context.
Exclusion criteria
-
Was not available in English;
-
Concerned only a narrow set of specific mental disorders or difficulties;
-
Could only be completed by a professional;
-
Took over 30 minutes to complete;
-
Primarily employed open-ended responses;
-
Used an age range that was too narrow (e.g. only for preschoolers);
-
Had not been used with a variety of populations.
Stage 3: Secondary searches
-
Psychometric properties;
-
Symptoms or subscales covered;
-
Response format;
-
Length;
-
Respondent;
-
Age range covered;
-
Number of associated published papers;
-
Settings in which the measure has been used.
Stage 4: Filtering of measures according to breadth and extent of research evidence
Results
Measure | Scales and subscales | Versions | Age | Length/time to complete | Response scales | Cost associated with use? | Other languages |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) | Covers the following domains: anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behaviour and aggressive behaviour. Also summed into internalising and externalising subscales | Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL, parent/carer report); Teacher Report (TRF); Youth Self-Report (YSR) | TRF and CBCL: 1.5-5yrs and 6-18 years | YSR = 105 items, 15mins | 0, 1, 2 (always, sometimes, never) | Yes | A range of versions have been translated into over 80 different languages |
TRF = 120 items, 15 minutes | |||||||
YSR: 11-18 years | |||||||
CBCL = 120 items, 15 minutes | |||||||
2. Beck Youth Inventories (BYI) | 5 child self-report inventories: depression inventory, anxiety inventory, anger inventory, disruptive behavior inventory, self-concept inventory | All self-report | 7-18 years | 5 inventories, each with 20 questions, 5 minutes per inventory. | 0, 1, 2, 3 (never, sometimes, often, always). | Yes | English |
3. Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) | Covers the following: hyperactivity, aggression, conduct problems, anxiety, depression, somatization, attention problems, learning problems, withdrawal, atypicality, adaptability, leadership, social skills and study skills | Teacher Report Scale (TRS) - 14 scales; Parent Report Scale (PRS) - 13 scales; Self-report of Personality (SRP) - 14 scales | PRS and TRS, 3 age groupings: preschool (ages 2 years to 5 years), child (ages 6 years to 11 years), and adolescent (ages 12 years to 21 years | PRS = 134-160 items (10-20 minutes to complete) | PRS, TRS & SRP: 4 point scale (never, sometimes, often and almost always) SRP also has some true/false | Yes | English and Spanish |
TRS = 100-139 items (10-15 minutes) | |||||||
SRP = 139-185 (20-30 minutes) | |||||||
4. Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) | 6 factors: interpersonal strength, family involvement, intrapersonal strength, school functioning, affective strength, career strength (CS is new to BERS-2) | Teacher rating scale (TRS); Parent rating scale (PRS); Youth Rating Scale (YRS) | 5-18 years | 52 items in parent/carer and teacher scales - 10 minutes | 0, 1, 2, 3 (not at all like the child; not like the child; like the child; very much like the child). | Yes | English and Spanish |
Eight open-ended questions | |||||||
5. Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) | Parent 50 - 14 concepts (12 scales and 2 single items) | Parent/carer and child report versions | Self- report: 10+ years | Self-report: 87 items | 5 point scale, labels vary | Free for research purposes | Some versions have been translated into over 70 different languages |
Parent 28 - 14 concepts (12 scales and 2 single items) | Parent/carer report: 5-18 years | Parent/carer report: 28 or 50 | |||||
Child form- 12 concepts (10 scales and 2 items) | |||||||
Including physical functioning, bodily pain, general health perceptions, self-esteem, mental health, behaviour | |||||||
6. Child Symptom Inventories (CSI) | Covers a range of disorders such as ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Specific Phobia, Major Depressive Disorder and more. | Parent/carer, teacher and child self-reports. | ECI-4: 3-5years | Between 77 and 108 items depending on version and reporter | 4-point response scale, indicating how often the symptom is observed | Yes | Parent/carer checklist available in 14 languages |
Parent/carer and teacher: ECI-4 (Early Childhood Inventory); CSI-4 (Child Symptom Inventory); | CSI-4: 5-12 years | ||||||
ASI-4: 12-18 years | |||||||
YI-4: 12-18 years | |||||||
ASI-4 (Adolescent Symptom Inventory). | |||||||
Self-report: YI-4 (Youth’s Inventory) | |||||||
7. Health of the National Outcome Scale for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) | 2 sections, 15 scales Includes disruptive, over activity, self-injury, substance misuse, scholastic or language skills, illness or disability, hallucinations and delusions, emotional, peer relationships | Clinician report; Parent/carer report; Self rated (SR) | Clinician and parent/carer report: 3-18 years | 13 items plus two further optional questions in the clinician report, 5 minutes to complete. | Clinician report: 5 point scale (“no problem” through to “severe to very severe problem”) | Free of charge for UK Services | English |
Self-report: 13-18 | |||||||
Parent/carer and self-report: 5 point scale | |||||||
(“not at all” through to “severely”) | |||||||
8. Kidscreen | KIDSCREEN-10: uni-dimensional global HRQoL. KIDSCREEN-27 – 5 dimensions: Physical Well-Being, Psychological Well-Being, Autonomy & Parents, Peers & Social Support, School Environment. KIDSCREEN-52 – 10 dimensions: Physical Well-being, Psychological Well-being, Moods and Emotions, Self-Perception, Autonomy, Parent Relations and Home Life, Social Support and Peers, School Environment, Social Acceptance (Bullying), and Financial Resources | Measures are primarily child report with a proxy measure for parent/carers. | 8-18 years | 10, 27 or 52 items | 5 point scale, labels vary | Use of the questionnaires is free for research purposes but the KIDSCREEN manual must be purchased | A range of versions have been translated into over 25 different languages |
9. Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) | The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) and the Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist (Y-PSC) are parent/carer- and child-report questionnaires designed for screening school-age children for psychosocial problems. It assesses both emotional and behavioural problems. All items are summed to give an overall score of psychological impairment | The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) and the Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist (Y-PSC) | PSC: 6-16 years | 35 items in both versions | 3 point scale (never, sometimes, often) | Free | Available in Japanese, English and Spanish |
Y-PSC: 11 years + | 17 item version also available | ||||||
10. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) | 25 closed-ended questions making up 5 subscales: conduct symptoms, emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, peer relationships and prosocial behaviour. It has an additional impact supplement, which assesses the extent to which problems have had an impact on aspects of the child’s life. | Parent/carer, teacher and self-report versions. | Parent/carer and teacher reports: 4-16 years | 25 items (5 minutes) | 0, 1, 2 (not true, somewhat true, certainly true) | Paper copies can be used for free | A range of versions have been translated into over 70 different languages |
Self-report: 11-17 | |||||||
11. Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ) | Covers six key areas: intrapersonal distress, somatic, interpersonal relations, critical items, social problems, behavioural dysfunction | A parent/carer report outcome and tracking measure | Parent/carer report: 4-17 years | 64 items or 30 items | 5 point response scale | Yes | English, Dutch, French, Korean, Spanish, and Swedish |
A youth self-report outcome and tracking measure | Self-report: 12-18 years | ||||||
A 30-item, single-subscale, self- report or parent/carer report outcome and progress tracking measure |
Measure | Validity | Reliability | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Content | Discriminant | Concurrent* | Internal consistency | Test-retest | |
1. Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) [4] | Procedure for selecting items included literature review, consultation with mental health professionals and special educators and pilot testing with parents/carers, teachers and youth | CBCL: Discriminates between referred and non-referred samples | CBCL: DSM IV checklist 0.49-0.87; clinical diagnoses 0.27-0.6; CPRS-R 0.71-0.8, BASC PRS 0.52-0.89; TRF: CTRS-R 0.77-0.89; BASC TRS 0.46-0.87 | CBCL: 0.63-0.97 | CBCL: 0.82-0.94 (8 days) |
TRF: 0.72-0.97 | TRF: 0.6-0.95 (16 days) | ||||
YSR: 0.55-0.95 | YSR: 0.68-0.91 (8 days) | ||||
TRF: Discriminates between referred and non-referred samples | |||||
YSR: Discriminates between referred and non-referred samples | |||||
2. Beck Youth Inventories (BYI) [25] | Pilot studies used to select initial items based on verbal reports of children who were in therapy, distribution of responses and the ability of an item to differentiate between clinical and non-clinical sample. | Discriminates between clinical group and matched controls; children seeing SEN services and matched controls. | CDI 0.26-0.72; RCMAS scales 0.13 - 0.7; PHCSCS scales 0.06 - 0.67; CASS:S 0.27 - 0.73 | 0.86-0.92 | 0.63-0.89 (1 week median) |
Multiple sources (teachers, students, psychologists, psychiatrists) were asked to write operational definitions of the constructs. Items were written to agree with definitions. | TRS: Discriminates between different clinical profiles PRS: Discriminates between different clinical profiles SRP: Discriminates between different clinical profiles | TRS: SSRS 0.03-0.6 | TRS: 0.82-0.90 | TRF: 0.81-0.96 (1 month) | |
PRS: CBCL 0.71-0.84, SSRS 0.02-0.62 | PRS: 0.74-0.80 | PRS: 0.70-0.85 (1 month) | |||
SRP: 0.80-0.82 | SRP: 0.64-0.86 (1 month) | ||||
SRP: MMPI (0.78-0.89) | |||||
Detailed rationale for content and format of existing subscales (derived based on consultation, item and factor analysis) and rationale for the new career strength subscale. 2. Validity of items checked with classical item analysis used to choose items. 3. Differential item functioning analysis to reinforce and show lack of bias in items. | TRS: Discriminates between normative sample and sample with emotional and behavioural problems. Scales can discriminate between students without disabilities, with learning disabilities and behavioural disorders PRS: Discriminates between normative sample and sample with emotional and behavioural problems. | TRS: WMSSCSA 0.29 - 0.85; SSBD 0.26-0.80; SAED 0.25 -0.71; SSRS 0.21 -0.73; TRF 0.27 - 0.75 | TRS: 0.84 - 0.98 | TRS: 0.85-0.99 (2 weeks); 0.53-0.68 (6 months) | |
YRS: Discriminates between normative sample and sample with emotional and behavioural problems. | PRS: CBCL 0.09 - 0.91; SSRS 0.43 – 0.79 | PRS: 0.84 - 0.97 | PRS: 0.82-0.92 (2 weeks) | ||
YRS: YSR 0.03-0.81; SSRS 0.32-0.73 | YRS: 0.79 - 0.95 | YRS: 0.84-0.91 (2 week) | |||
Items & concepts compared with other published child and adolescent health assessment measures such as CHQ, CHIP etc. | Parent 50: Discriminates between clinical and normative groups | Parent 50: HUI 0.29-0.58 | Parent 50: 0.66 -0.94 | Parent 28: 0.14-0.78 | |
Parent 28: Discriminates between clinical and normative groups | Parent 28: VAS rating of Health 0.15-0.5 | Parent 28: 0.75 | |||
Child Form: 0.62 - 0.94 | |||||
6. Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4) [34] | Based on DSM-IV | Parent Checklist: Discriminates between normative and clinical sample | Parent Checklist: CBCL 0.01- 0.73 | Parent Checklist: 0.74- 0.94 | Parent Checklist: 0.46-0.87 - Symptom severity scores; 0.34-0.83- symptom count scores (Average 4.3 weeks) |
Teacher Checklist: TRF 0.08- 0.73 | Teacher Checklist: 0.71 -0.96 | ||||
Teacher Checklist: Discriminates between normative and clinical sample | |||||
Teacher Checklist: 0.47-0.88- Symptom severity scores; 0.54-0.84- symptom count scores (2 weeks) | |||||
Based on HONOS(adults), consultation to adapt usage to children and adolescents | Clinician report: Discriminates between in-patients and outpatients Self-Rated: Discriminates between in-patients and outpatients | Clinician report: CGAS 0.64, SDQ (PR)0.4, PCS 0.62, Behaviour Checklist 0.44 | Clinician report: r = 0.69 (6 months, for cases recognised as unchanged); SR: r = 0.81 (1 week) | ||
Parent/carer report: SDQ (PR) = 0.32 | |||||
Self-report: SDQ = 0.66 | |||||
Kidscreen 52: Literature reviews, expert consultation (Delphi Method), children’s focus groups, card sort technique piloted with 8-18 year olds. Methods from Item response theory (IRT) and classical test theory used to reduce number of items to 52. | Kidscreen 52: Discriminates between healthy and mentally or physically ill children. | Kidscreen 52: KINDL scales 0.16-0.68; Peds QL 0.44-0.61 | Kidscreen 52: 0.77-0.89 | Kidscreen 52: 0.56-0.77(2 weeks) | |
Kidscreen 27: Peds QL 0.16-0.54; CHIP 0.39-0.62; YQOL-S 0.37-0.63 | |||||
Kidscreen 10: PEDSQL 0.57; CHIPS 0.63; YQOL-S 0.61 | |||||
Kidscreen 27: Derived from Kidscreen 52 using EFA, Mokken Scale analysis, Rasch partial credit modelling, MAP analysis and CFA. | |||||
Kidscreen 27: 0.78-0.84 | Kidscreen 27: 0.61-0.74 (2 weeks) | ||||
Kidscreen 27: Discriminates between healthy and mentally or physically ill children. | |||||
Kidscreen 10: 0.82 | Kidscreen 10: 0.7 (2 weeks) | ||||
Kidscreen 10: IRT and differential item functioning techniques were used to reduce 27 items to ten items. | |||||
Kidscreen 10: Discriminates between healthy and mentally or physically ill children. | |||||
The scale is a shortened and revised form of the Washington Symptom Checklist. | Parent/carer report: PSC: | Parent/carer report: PSC: CGAS 79-92%, к =0.82; CBCL к =0.52; DICA к = 0.74; PSC-17: CIS 0.74; CGAS 0.64; CBCL 0.60 | Parent/carer report | Parent/carer report: PSC: 0.86 (1 week) Youth report: 0.45 (4 months) | |
Discriminates between referred and non-referred children and children with and without problems. | PSC: 0.89 | ||||
PSC-17: 0.79-0.89 | |||||
PSC-17: Cross validated factor analysis on PSC. | |||||
PSC-17:Discriminates between children with and without diagnoses(ADHD, externalising, depression) Youth report: Discriminates between students identified as having attentional/behavioural problems and those without these problems | |||||
Youth report: CDI к =0.47; RCMAS к =0.42; Teacher rating of attentional and behavioural problems к =0.58 | |||||
Not reported. | Parent/carer report: Discriminates between clinical and normative populations | Parent/carer report: CBCL, 0.59-0.87 | Self-report: 0.69-0.82 | Self-report: 0.21-0.62 (4-6 months) | |
Parent/carer report: 0.63-0.85 | Parent/carer report: 0.57-0.72 (4-6 months) | ||||
Teacher report: 0.7-0.88 | Teacher report: 0.65-0.82 (4-6 months) | ||||
Aided by having adolescents define content of data, additional items from adolescent health/welfare experts and reviews of lit | Youth report: Discriminates between clinical and community samples Parent/carer report: Discriminates between clinical and community samples | Youth report: KINDL 0.73, CDI 0.58 | Youth report: 0.77-0.96 | Youth: 0.74-0.85 (1 week) | |
Parent/carer: 0.8 (average 3 weeks) | |||||
Parent/carer report: 0.92 |