Empirically based assessment of the behavioral/emotional problems of 2- and 3- year-old children

The aim was to determine whether ratings of 2- and 3-year-olds could yield more differentiation among their behavioral/emotional problems than the internalizing-externalizing dichotomy found in previous studies. The 99-item Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 2–3 (CBCL/2–3) was designed to extend previously developed empirically based assessment procedures to 2-and 3-year-olds. Factor analyses of the CBCL/2–3 completed by parents of 398 2- and 3-year-olds yielded six syndromes having at least eight items loading 30 and designated as Social Withdrawal, Depressed, Sleep Problems, Somatic Problems, Aggressive, and Destructive. Second-order analyses showed that the first two were related to a broad-band internalizing grouping, whereas the last two were related to a broad-band externalizing grouping. Scales for the six syndromes, two broad-band groupings, and total problem score were constructed from scores obtained by 273 children in a general population sample. Mean test-retest reliability r was 87, 1-year stability r was 69, 1-year predictive r with CBCL/4–16 scales at age 4 was 63, 2-year predictive r was 55, and 3-year predictive r was 49. Children referred for mental health services scored significantly higher than nonreferred children on all scales. A lack of significant r's with the Minnesota Child Development Inventory, Bayley, and McCarthy indicate that the CBCL/2–3 taps behavioral/emotional problems independently of the developmental variance tapped by these measures.This research was supported by March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation Grants 12–88 and 12–186, a Faculty Scholars Award from the W.T. Grant Foundation, and a Biomedical Research Support Grant from the University of Vermont College of Medicine.