Normative Data and Psychometric Properties of the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Rating Form in an Iranian Community Sample

Objective The objective of this study was to determine the normative data and psychometric properties of the parent and teacher rating form of the child behavior checklist (CBCL) in an Iranian community sample. Methods A sample of 6-12 year old students was randomly selected from ten elementary schools in Tehran, Iran. The parent's and teacher's versions of CBCL were accomplished. Clinical interview and the kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia – present and lifetime version, Persian version (K-SADS-PL-PV) were used to evaluate the validity and the cut-off point of CBCL and the teacher rating form (TRF). Findings Among 600 recruited students with mean age of 9.11 years (SD=1.45), 54.16% were girls (n=325). Girls had significantly lower scores in Attention Problems, Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior, Externalizing and Total Problems than boys (P<0.01). The relation was significant between the CBCL Internalizing and students' ages (β=0.124, P=0.002). The Internal consistency, the correlation among the CBCL and TRF scales, and the inter-rater correlations for CBCL/TRF scales were good to high for most indices and subscales. Based on the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis the best convergences were between the CBCL Attention Problems subscale and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, the CBCL Total Problems and any disorders, the CBCL Externalizing and ADHD+ODD diagnosis. The sensitivities and specificities of the CBCL subscales were higher than the TRF except for Externalizing/ADHD+ oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) which was reverse. Conclusion These results support the multicultural CBCL/TRF findings. CBCL is a useful instrument to consider ADHD and any disorders in community samples.