Abstract
Epidemiological studies often use parent questionnaires to assess children's development and mental health. To date, few studies have investigated the validity of parent questionnaires with standardized clinical assessments as criterion. The current study examines discriminant and convergent validity of parent questionnaires for symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD) as well as symptoms of Separation Anxiety employed in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study by using structured clinical interviews performed 5 months later in the Longitudinal ADHD Cohort Study as a criterion. The comparison of confirmatory factor analysis models and examination of factor correlations indicate convergent and discriminant validity of MoBa parent questionnaires for preschool children, especially for the assessment of ADHD and ODD/CD. Future research should attempt to further improve parent questionnaires, examine their validity in representative samples, and explicitly test their utility for screening.
Highlights
It is well documented that significant psychiatric symptoms and disorders may develop in early preschool age [1]
The aim of this article is to utilize the clinical information collected in the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Study in order to assess convergent and discriminant validity of parent questionnaires for assessing symptoms of AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Separation Anxiety
The ADHD Study sample consisted of participants recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)
Summary
It is well documented that significant psychiatric symptoms and disorders may develop in early preschool age [1]. While many of these children have significant symptoms with impairment in preschool years, very few are referred to specialist mental health services for help [2]. As early psychosocial treatment of children at risk for developing ADHD may reduce negative consequences over time, early identification is warranted [3]. It is an important clinical challenge to identify the children that will develop chronic behavioral problems while avoiding pathologizing normally developing active children [4]. To meet this challenge, reliable and valid diagnostic tools that make this distinction need to be developed
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