Measuring Behavior Problems in Young Children of Color

描述：(由申请人提供)越来越多的证据表明儿童早期行为问题的普遍性和持久性，特别是在低收入有色人种儿童中，这激发了人们对早期识别和治疗有反社会行为风险的儿童的兴趣。然而，通常用于衡量行为问题的工具在低收入有色人种儿童中的有效性可能会受到质疑。本研究将评估两种最常用的2-4岁儿童行为问题测量工具的效度：儿童行为量表(CBCL)和艾伯格儿童行为问卷(ECBF)。第一阶段的目的是对CBCL和ECBI进行项目分析，以检查按父母种族/族裔和家庭收入划分的项目功能差异(DIF)。非裔美国人、拉丁裔和白人父母(n=840)将被招募，按收入(低收入与中等收入)和语言(单语与双语)分层，以使用有目的和转介的抽样设计完成研究措施。探索性项目分析将用于测试项目在不同种族/民族和收入群体中的作用是否不同。将进一步探讨项目功能上的差异，以检查可能解释种族/族裔或收入差异的中介变量的影响。第二阶段的目的是(A)描述和比较来自中低收入群体的非裔美国人、拉丁裔和白人父母对ECBI和CBCL的接受程度，以及(B)了解在第一阶段取得的显著项目差异可能与父母的种族/民族、收入群体和/或语言有关。数据将从21个2-4岁儿童父母的焦点群体中获得，按种族/民族、收入和语言分层。主题将被提取并使用定性的方法进行分析。第三阶段的目的是整合第一阶段和第二阶段的发现，并为使用和修改这些测量方法产生建议，以便它们可以为有色人种幼儿的行为问题提供更有效的估计。

DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) Mounting evidence on the prevalence and persistence of early childhood behavior problems, particularly among low-income children of color has fueled interest in early identification and treatment of children at risk for antisocial behavior. However, the instruments typically used to measure behavior problems may have questionable validity among low-income children of color. This study will evaluate the validity of the two most commonly used measures of behavior problems in children 2-4 years old: the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBF). The aim of Phase 1 is to conduct item analyses on the CBCL and ECBI to examine differential item functioning (DIF) by parent race/ethnicity and household income. African-American, Latino, and White parents (n=840) stratified by income (low vs. middle) and language (monolingual vs. bilingual) will be recruited to complete research measures using a purposive and referral sampling design. Exploratory Item Analysis will be used to test whether items function differently in different racial/ethnic and income groups. Differences on item functioning will be further explored to examine the impact of mediator variables that might explain racial/ethnic or income differences. The aims of Phase 2 are to (a) describe and compare the acceptability of the ECBI and CBCL among African-American, Latino, and White parents from low and middle-income groups and (b) understand how significant item differences obtained in Phase I might be related to parents' race/ethnicity, income group, and/or language. Data will be obtained from 21 focus groups of parents of 2-4 year olds stratified by race/ethnicity, income, and language. Themes will be extracted and analyzed using qualitative methods. The aim of Phase 3 is to integrate the findings of Phases I and 2 and generate recommendations for using and revising these measures so they may provide more valid estimates of behavior problems among young children of color.