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The Application of the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist and the Caregiver–Teacher Report Form to Mainland Chinese Children: Syndrome Structure, Gender Differences, Country Effects, and Inter-Informant Agreement

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Abstract

Preschool children have long been a neglected population in the study of psychopathology. The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA), which includes the Child Behavior Checklist/1.5-5 (CBCL/1.5-5) and the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), constitutes the few available measures to assess preschoolers with an empirically derived taxonomy of preschool psychopathology. However, the utility of the measures and their taxonomy of preschool psychopathology to the Chinese is largely unknown and has not been studied. The present study aimed at testing the cross-cultural factorial validity of the CBCL/1.5-5 and C-TRF, as well as the applicability of the taxonomy of preschool psychopathology they embody, to Mainland Chinese preschoolers. Country effects between our Chinese sample and the original U.S. sample, gender differences, and cross-informant agreement between teachers and parents were also to be examined. A Chinese version of the CBCL/1.5-5 and C-TRF was completed by parents and teachers respectively on 876 preschoolers in Mainland China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the original, U.S.-derived second order, multi-factor model best fit the Chinese preschool data of the CBCL/1.5-5 and C-TRF. Rates of total behavior problems in Chinese preschoolers were largely similar to those in American preschoolers. Specifically, Chinese preschoolers scored higher on internalizing problems while American preschoolers scored higher on externalizing problems. Chinese preschool boys had significantly higher rates of externalizing problems than Chinese preschool girls. Cross-informant agreement between Chinese teachers and parents was relatively low compared to agreement in the original U.S. sample. Results support the generalizability of the taxonomic structure of preschool psychopathology derived in the U.S. to the Chinese, as well as the applicability of the Chinese version of the CBCL/1.5-5 and C-TRF.

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Acknowledgements

This study is, in part, supported by NIH/NIEHS K01-ES015 877.

We would like to thank the participating children, their families, and the schoolteachers from Jintan City as well as the Jintan Cohort Study Group.

We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Bu Huang’s statistical assistance during the revision process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schools of Nursing and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Blvd., Room 426, Claire M. Fagin Hall, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6096, USA

    Jianghong Liu

  2. Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Halina Cheng & Patrick W. L. Leung

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  1. Jianghong Liu
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  2. Halina Cheng
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  3. Patrick W. L. Leung
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Correspondence to Jianghong Liu or Patrick W. L. Leung.

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Liu, J., Cheng, H. & Leung, P.W.L. The Application of the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist and the Caregiver–Teacher Report Form to Mainland Chinese Children: Syndrome Structure, Gender Differences, Country Effects, and Inter-Informant Agreement. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 251–264 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9452-8

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