The Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) is a popular screening instrument used by parents and clinicians to assess children's behavioral functioning. However, more schools are examining the potential of the PSC-17 as part of a Multi-Tier System of Support framework. To investigate the potential of the PSC-17 in the schools, a sample of 1,779 U.S. preschool and kindergarten-aged children rated by parents (n = 667) and teachers (n = 1,112) was used to assess the measurement invariance of the PSC-17 across respondent groups. Multiple-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported partial scalar invariance for the PSC-17, indicating functional equivalence across teacher and parent respondents. Latent mean testing revealed teachers rated children as exhibiting a lower level of Externalizing Problems relative to parents; however, no significant differences in children's Internalizing Problems and Attention Problems were found between teacher and parent ratings.
AchenbachT. M. (2006). As others see us: clinical and research implications of cross-informant correlations for psychopathology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 94–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00414.x
2.
AverillO. H.RinaldiC.CollaborativeU. S. E. L. (2011). Multi-tier system of supports (MTSS). District Administration, 48(8), 91–95.
3.
BarrettS.EberL.WeistM. D. (2013). Advancing education effectiveness: an interconnected systems framework for positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and school mental health. Center for positive behavioral interventions and supports (funded by the office of special education programs, US department of education). University of Oregon Press.
4.
BergmannP.LuckeC.NguyenT.JellinekM.MurphyJ. M. (2018). Identification and utility of a short form of the pediatric symptom checklist-youth self-report (PSC-17- Y). European Journal of Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000486
5.
BluckerR. T.JacksonD.GillaspyJ. A.HaleJ.WolraichM.GillaspyS. R. (2014). Pediatric behavioral health screening in primary care: A preliminary analysis of the pediatric symptom checklist-17 with functional impairment items. Clinical Pediatrics, 53(5), 449–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922814527498
6.
BorowskyI. W.MozayenyS.IrelandM. (2003). Brief psychosocial screening at health supervision and acute care visits. Pediatrics, 112(1), 129–113. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.112.1.129
7.
Briggs-GowanM. J.CarterA. S.Bosson-HeenanJ.GuyerA. E.HorwitzS. M. (2006). Are infant-toddler social-emotional and behavioral problems transient?Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(7), 849–858. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000220849.48650.59
8.
BrownT. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford publications Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Children’s mental health. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html.
9.
ChaffinM.CampbellC.WhitworthD. N.GillaspyS. R.BardD.BonnerB. L.WolraichM. L. (2017). Accuracy of a pediatric behavioral health screener to detect untreated behavioral health problems in primary care settings. Clinical Pediatrics, 56(5), 427–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922816678412
10.
ChenF. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
11.
CheungG. W.RensvoldR. B. (1999). Testing factorial invariance across groups: A reconceptualization and proposed new method. Journal of Management, 25(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639902500101
12.
CheungG. W.RensvoldR. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
13.
CostelloA. B.OsborneJ. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment. Research, and Evaluation, 10(1), 7.
14.
CreeR. A.BitskoR. H.RobinsonL. R.HolbrookJ. R.DanielsonM. L.SmithC.PeacockG. (2018). Health care, family, and community factors associated with mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders and poverty among children aged 2–8 years— United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(50), 1377. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6750a1
15.
DavidovE.MeulemanB.CieciuchJ.SchmidtP.BillietJ. (2014). Measurement equivalence in cross-national research. Annual Review of Sociology, 40, 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043137
16.
De Los ReyesA.ThomasS. A.GoodmanK. L.KundeyS. M. (2013). Principles underlying the use of multiple informants’ reports. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 123–149. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185617
17.
DeverB. V.DowdyE.RainesT. C.CarnazzoK. (2015). Stability and change of behavioral and emotional screening scores. Psychology in the Schools, 52(6), 618–629. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21825
18.
DiStefanoC.BarthS. G.GreerF. (2019). Assessing equivalency of PSC-17 ratings: does it matter if mixed or grouped item format is used?Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 37(7), 920–924. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282918819566
19.
DiStefanoC.LiuJ.BurgessY. (2017). Investigating the structure of the pediatric symptoms checklist in the preschool setting. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 35(5), 494–505. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282916647648
20.
DowdyE.FurlongM.EklundK.SaekiE.RitcheyK. (2010a). Screening for mental health and wellness: Current school-based practices and emerging possibilities. Handbook of youth prevention science, 70–95.
21.
DowdyE.RitcheyK.KamphausR. W. (2010b). School-based screening: A population- based approach to inform and monitor children’s mental health needs. School Mental Health, 2(4), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-010-9036-3
22.
ErdoganS.OzturkM. (2011). Psychometric evaluation of the turkish version of the pediatric symptom checklist-17 for detecting psychosocial problems in low-income children. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(17-18), 2591–2599. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03537.x
23.
FerdinandR. F.HoogerheideK. N.Van Der EndeJ.VisserJ. H.KootH. M.KasiusM. C.VerhulstF. C. (2003). The role of the clinician: Three-year predictive value of parents’, teachers’, and clinicians’ judgment of childhood psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44(6), 867–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00171
24.
FinneyS. J.DavisS. L. (2003). Examining the invariance of the achievement goal questionnaire across gender. In annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
25.
FinneyS.DiStefanoC. (2013). Dealing with nonnormality and categorical data in structural equation modeling. A second course in structural equation modeling. Information Age.
26.
FurrM. (2011). Scale construction and psychometrics for social and personality psychology. Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446287866
27.
GardnerW.LucasA.KolkoD. J.CampoJ. V. (2007). Comparison of the PSC-17 and alternative mental health screens in an at-risk primary care sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(5), 611–618. https://doi.org/10.1097/chi.0b013e318032384b
28.
GardnerW.MurphyJ. M.ChildsG.KelleherK.PaganoM.JellinekM.McInernyT. K.WassermanR. C.NuttingP.ChiappettaL. (1999). The PSC-17: A brief pediatric symptom checklist with psychosocial problem subscales. A report from PROS and ASPN. Ambulatory Child Health, 5(3), 225–236.
29.
GloverT. A.AlbersC. A. (2007). Considerations for evaluating universal screening assessments. Journal of School Psychology, 45(2), 117–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.05.005
30.
HarahapD. F.SjarifD. R.SoedjatmikoS.WidodoD. P.TedjasaputraM. S. (2010). Identification of emotional and behavior problems in obese children using child behavior checklist (CBCL) and 17-items pediatric symptom checklist (PSC-17). Paediatrica Indonesiana, 50(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.14238/pi50.1.2010.42-8
31.
HarlacherJ. E.SakelarisT. L.KattelmanN. M. (2014). Practitioner’s guide to curriculum- based evaluation in reading. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9360-0
32.
HarrisonJ. R.VannestK. J.ReynoldsC. R. (2013). Social acceptability of five screening instruments for social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. Behavioral Disorders, 38(3), 171–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874291303800305
33.
HinnantJ. B.El-SheikhM. (2013). Codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing symptoms in middle to late childhood: sex, baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity as predictors. Development and Psychopathology, 25(2), 419–436. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579412001150
34.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
35.
JacobsonJ. H.PullmannM. D.ParkerE. M.KernsS. E. (2019). Measurement based care in child welfare-involved children and youth: Reliability and validity of the PSC-17. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50(2), 332–345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-018-0845-1
36.
JungE.YoonM. (2016). Comparisons of three empirical methods for partial factorial invariance: forward, backward, and factor-ratio tests. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(4), 567–584. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2015.1138092
37.
KettlerR. J.GloverT. A.AlbersC. A.Feeney-KettlerK. A. (2014). An introduction to universal screening in educational settings. In KettlerR. J.GloverT. A.AlbersC. A.Feeney-KettlerK. A. (Eds.), Universal screening in educational settings: evidence-based decision making for schools (pp. 3–16). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14316-000
38.
KielingC.Baker-HenninghamH.BelferM.ContiG.ErtemI.OmigbodunO.RahmanA. (2011). Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: Evidence for action. The Lancet, 378(9801), 1515–1525. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60827-1
39.
KlineR. B. (2010). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). Guilford publications.
40.
KonoldT. R.WalthallJ. C.PiantaR. C. (2004). The behavior of child behavior ratings: measurement structure of the child behavior checklist across time, informants, and child gender. Behavioral Disorders, 29(4), 372–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290402900405
41.
Kuja-HalkolaR.LichtensteinP.D’OnofrioB. M.LarssonH. (2015). Codevelopment of ADHD and externalizing behavior from childhood to adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(6), 640–647. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12340
42.
LaneK. L.MenziesH. M.OakesW. P.KalbergJ. R. (2012). Systematic screenings of behavior to support instruction. Guilford.
43.
LeivaL.RojasR.PeñaF.VargasB.ScquicciariniA. M. (2019). Detectando las dificultades emocionales y conductuales en la escuela: Validación de PSC-17. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación-e Avaliação Psicológica, 1(50), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.21865/RIDEP50.1.08
44.
LittleT. D. (2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
45.
LiuJ.BurgessY.DiStefanoC.PanF.JiangN. (2020a). Validating the pediatric symptoms checklist–17 in the preschool environment. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 38(4), 460–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282919828234
46.
LiuJ.DiStefanoC.BurgessY.WangJ. (2018). Pediatric symptom checklist-17: testing measurement invariance of a higher-order factor model between boys and girls. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 1(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000495
47.
LiuJ.GuoS.GaoR.DiStefanoC. (2020b). Investigating school children’s behavioral and emotional problems using pediatric symptoms checklist-17 in a structural equation modeling framework. School Psychology International, 41(3), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034320912301
48.
LomazziV.SeddigD. (2020). Gender role attitudes in the international social survey programme: cross-national comparability and relationships to cultural values. Cross- Cultural Research, 54(4), 398–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397120915454
49.
MarshH. W.HauK. T.WenZ. (2004). In search of golden rules: comment on hypothesis- testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling, 11(3), 320–341. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1103_2
MurphyJ. M.BergmannP.ChiangC.SturnerR.HowardB.AbelM. R.JellinekM. (2016). The PSC-17: Subscale scores, reliability, and factor structure in a new national sample. Pediatrics, 138(3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-0038
52.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. (2019). Mplus. The comprehensive modelling program for applied researchers: user’s guide, 5.
53.
ParkerE. M.JacobsonJ.PullmannM. D.KernsS. E. (2019). Identifying psychosocial problems among children and youth in the child welfare system using the PSC-17: Exploring convergent and discriminant validity with multiple informants. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50(1), 108–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-018-0824-6
54.
RaykovT.DiStefanoC. (2021). Design effect in multilevel settings: A commentary on a latent variable modeling procedure for its evaluation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 00131644211019447. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131644211019447
55.
SchmittN.KuljaninG. (2008). Measurement invariance: review of practice and implications. Human Resource Management Review, 18(4), 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.03.003
56.
SteenkampJ. B. E.BaumgartnerH. (1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(1), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.1086/209528
57.
StoppelbeinL.GreeningL.MollG.JordanS.SuozziA. (2012). Factor analyses of the pediatric symptom checklist-17 with African-American and Caucasian pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 37(3), 348–357. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsr103
58.
VandenbergR. J.LanceC. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3(1), 4–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
59.
Van der EndeJ.VerhulstF. C.TiemeierH. (2012). Agreement of informants on emotional and behavioral problems from childhood to adulthood. Psychological Assessment, 24(2), 293. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025500
60.
WagnerJ. L.GuilfoyleS. M.RauschJ.ModiA. C. (2015). Psychometric validation of the pediatric symptom checklist-17 in a pediatric population with epilepsy: A methods study. Epilepsy & Behavior, 51, 112–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.06.027
61.
WillnerC. J.Gatzke-KoppL. M.BrayB. C. (2016). The dynamics of internalizing and externalizing comorbidity across the early school years. Development and Psychopathology, 28(4 Pt 1), 1033. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416000687
62.
Ziomek-DaigleJ.Goodman-ScottE.CavinJ.DonohueP. (2016). Integrating a multi-tiered system of supports with comprehensive school counseling programs. The Professional Counselor, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.15241/jzd.6.3.220
