Psychometric properties of the revised Developmental Behaviour Checklist scales in Dutch children with intellectual disability

Abstract

The present study assessed the reliability and validity of the revised scales of the Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC) in a Dutch sample of children with intellectual disability (ID). The psychometric properties of the parent and teacher versions of the DBC were assessed in various subsamples derived from a sample of  Dutch children (age range = - years) with ID or borderline intellectual functioning. Good test-retest reliability was shown both for the parent and teacher versions. Moderate inter-parent agreement and high one-year stability was found for the scale scores. Construct validity was satisfactory, although limited by high informant variance. The DBC scales showed good criterion-related validity, as indicated by significant mean differences between referred and non-referred children, and between children with and without a corresponding DSM-IV diagnosis. The reliability and validity of the revised DBC Correspondence: Marielle C. Dekker, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Dr. Molewaterplein ,  GJ Rotterdam, the Netherlands (e-mail: dekker@psys.azr.nl).scales are satisfactory, and the checklist is recommended for clinical and research purposes.

Systems Analysis of Stress and Positive Perceptions in Mothers and Fathers of Pre-School Children with Autism

“…This rating questionnaire contains 96 individual items that were derived from case files of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. It is one of a very small number of behavior rating questionnaires developed on and standardized for populations of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, and it has excellent psychometric properties (Dekker, Nunn, & Koot, 2002;Einfeld & Tonge, 1995;Hastings, Brown, Mount, & Cormack, 2001). The DBC has been used widely including for research exploring relationships between children's behavior problems and parental stress (e.g., Hastings, 2003b;Hastings & Brown, 2002;Hoare, Harris, Jackson, & Kerley, 1998).…”

Development, cognition, and behaviour in Pitt–Hopkins syndrome

“…The DBC-P is considered reliable and has been validated in a large sample of Dutch children with intellectual disability. 27,28 The DBC-A is a 107-item instrument with similar properties but suited for adults. The questionnaire is completed by someone who knows the person well.…”

Behavioral problems in children with motor and intellectual disabilities: Prevalence and associations with maladaptive personality and marital relationship

“…These responses were based on observations during the last six months. The DBC is a valid and reliable instrument for the measurement of behavioral problems in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (Dekker, Nunn, & Koot, 2002;Einfeld & Tonge, 1995;). Cronbach's alphas for the Total Problems scale were high for parent reports (a = .96) and for daily caretaker reports (a = .95).…”

“…To answer our first aim, the estimation of prevalence rates of behavioral problems in children with MID, we used the combined percentile scores of the Dutch normative sample of trainable (IQ 30-60) and educable (IQ 60-80) children in non-residential school settings (for a more detailed description, see Dekker et al, 2002). As described by Koot and Dekker (2001), we dichotomized the scores on the DBC scales into scores in the deviant or clinical range (!75) and scores in the normal range (<75).…”