Bwc. Forsyth et al., THE CHILD VULNERABILITY SCALE - AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF CHILD VULNERABILITY, Journal of pediatric psychology, 21(1), 1996, pp. 89-101
Developed and validated an instrument for identifying children perceiv
ed as vulnerable. Mothers of 1,095 children, aged 4-8 years, completed
interviews that included the original 12-item Child Vulnerability Sca
le. Eight items that correlated best with each of two major variables
that contribute to vulnerability were retained in the revised scale an
d a cutoff score was identified for children perceived as vulnerable,
The internal consistency of the revised scale was good. Using the revi
sed scale, 10.1% of children were identified as perceived vulnerable.
Children categorized as perceived vulnerable had a significant increas
e in behavior problems and acute medical visits. The revised Child Vul
nerability Scale should be useful in providing a better understanding
of the causes and effects of an important factor in child development.