M. Raadal et al., BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN 5-YEAR-OLD TO 11-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(7), 1994, pp. 1017-1025
Objective: The aims of the present study were to survey the Child Beha
vior Checklist (CBCL) scores (behavioral section) in a nonclinical pop
ulation of US urban children from low-income families and to compare t
he distribution and pattern of scores with the normative data in the C
BCL manual (1991). Method: The sample consisted of 890 low-income chil
dren and a mother or female guardian selected randomly from among Seat
tle public school students aged 5 to 11 years. Results: In this sample
the total CBCL score as well as all subscale scores were significantl
y higher than the norms. The proportion of children who scored in the
clinical/borderline range was also higher than the norm. Conclusions:
These findings support previous work showing that poverty is a risk fa
ctor for mental distress in children. They also raise questions about
the validity of the CBCL norms for screening or research purpose for l
ow-income families.