Psychometric properties of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders

The Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD) is a relatively new rating s cale intended to be used in the assessment of behavioral and emotional prob lems in children. In this study, several psychometric properties of the DSM D were investigated. The authors of the DSMD developed six separate subscal es through factor analytic procedures. This study attempted to replicate th ese scales. A factor analysis was conducted, and at each age range the scal e covers (5-12 and 13-18) five factors as opposed to six factors were retai ned. Al- though the factor structure in this study did not replicate the fa ctor structure reported by the scale authors, both the factors obtained in this study and the subscales developed by the authors have adequate interna l consistency reliabilities, and children classified as seriously emotional ly disturbed scored higher on all factors and subscales than did children n ot classified as such. These results are discussed within the context of ho w this scale may best be used in practice.