Behavior problems in young children from low‐income families: The development of a new screening tool

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to construct a screening tool, the Early Childhood Behavior Screen (ECBS), to identify behavior problems and prosocial behaviors in very young children (1-5 years old) from low-income backgrounds. Field testing of the initial screening tool was conducted with a representative, diverse sample of 439 parents from a low-income, urban community. The final 20-item scale was written at a 3.9 grade reading level. Psychometric properties of the ECBS revealed that the items loaded on two factors, the Challenging Behavior factor and the Prosocial Behavior factor. Each factor demonstrated high levels of internal consistency (.87 and .92, respectively). The Challenging Behavior factor demonstrated adequate levels of concurrent validity (r = .75), sensitivity (r = .82), and specificity (r = .80) based on its relationship with the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (S.M. Eyberg & D. Pincus, 1999). The Prosocial Behavior factor is a clinically useful aspect of the ECBS, as it allows researchers and practitioners to identify the child's positive behaviors as part of a strength-based approach to treatment. The results suggested that the ECBS has potential as a brief screening tool that is useful in pediatric, psychological, and educational settings that serve low-income populations to aid in the identification of young children with challenging behaviors that may require intervention services.

Evaluation of a University-Community Partnership to Provide Home-Based, Mental Health Services for Children from Families Living in Poverty

“…There are relatively few screening instruments available for use with parents of very young children who live in poverty and who tend to have lower reading levels (Holtz & Author, 2008). The Early Childhood Behavior Screen (ECBS; Holtz & Author, 2012), a 20-item self-report instrument developed specifically for parents of very young children from low-income backgrounds, measures parent perceptions of their children's challenging and prosocial behaviors. Because the ECBS is a new tool, a second wellestablished measure of children's challenging behaviors was also used -the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999).…”

Treatment Outcomes for At-Risk Young Children With Behavior Problems: Toward a New Definition of Success

“…The ECBS (Holtz & Fox, 2012) is a 20-item self-report screening instrument developed specifically for very young children (0 to five-years-old) from low-SES backgrounds. The ECBS was administered at pre-test, all individual treatment sessions, post-test, and follow-up.…”

Screening for Significant Behavior Problems in Diverse Young Children Living in Poverty

“…In addition, the IF helped determine the frequency and nature of the child's referral concerns, possible contributing factors, and how the caregivers were presently responding to the referral concerns. (Holtz & Fox, 2012) is a 20-item self-report screening instrument developed specifically for very young children in poverty. The ECBS items were written at a 3.9 reading grade level and included 10 prosocial behavior items (e.g., "listens to you," "shares toys") and 10 challenging behavior items (e.g., "hits others," "has temper tantrums").…”

“…The Early Childhood Behavior Screen (ECBS; Holtz & Fox, 2012) is a 20-item parent-report screening instrument developed specifically for very young children (1 to 5-years-old) from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. The initial study on the development of the ECBS empirically identified two factors, one including challenging behaviors and a second addressing prosocial behavior.…”

“…Internal consistency for the initial representative and diverse sample of 439 young children from a large urban area was .87 (the 10 prosocial items had a coefficient alpha of .92). Holtz & Fox (2012) acknowledged that their study was the first step in the development of the ECBS.…”