An evaluation of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist for children under age 5.
The ABC-C can over- or under-count problem behavior in children under five, so treat scores as tentative until better norms arrive.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) in the children under five. All kids had intellectual or developmental delays.
They checked if the five ABC-C subscales still held together in this young group. They also asked if scores change with age.
What they found
The usual five-factor structure did not fit. Items loaded on different factors than expected.
Younger toddlers scored higher on some problem scales than older preschoolers. This means the tool may misread behavior in the under-five crowd.
How this fits with other research
Freeth et al. (2019) saw a similar warning. In their study of older kids with autism, the ABC again over-counted irritability in children who speak few or no words. Together, the papers show the checklist can inflate scores for both young age and low verbal skill.
So et al. (2013) seems to disagree at first glance. Their 10-item CBCL-ASD scale screened accurately in preschoolers. The difference is simple: they used a different form (CBCL) and aimed to flag autism, not measure behavior severity. So the contradiction is only on the surface.
Wu et al. (2012) add another caution. Taiwanese preschoolers scored higher than U.S. norms on the CBCL. Like the ABC-C study, this tells us to think twice before we trust imported cut-off scores.
Why it matters
If you use the ABC-C with toddlers, treat the numbers as a rough guide, not gospel. Look at direct observation and caregiver notes before you decide on treatment. Consider re-testing after a few months; a jump in score might just be the child getting older, not worse.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Severe problem behaviors such as self-injury and aggression are frequently observed in young children under age 5 with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Although early identification of problem behavior is critical to effective intervention, there are few standardized measures available that identify severe problem behavior in this population. The Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C; Aman & Singh, 1994) is a rating scale that measures the severity of a range of problem behaviors commonly observed in individuals with IDD. While it has been used with children under 5, investigations into the fit of the ABC-C for this population are sparse. The purpose of the present study was to report on ABC-C scores in a sample of 97 children under age 5 with problem behavior. Analyses included evaluating differences in scores between age groups, comparing sample norms to established norms for older children, and conducting a confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated differences in mean scores based on age with younger children generally scoring higher on some subscales of the ABC-C. Furthermore, the original 5-factor structure of the ABC-C was not fully supported. In general, the ABC-C may over- or underestimate behavior problems in younger children; therefore more extensive investigation into the utility of the ABC-C for children under age 5 is warranted.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.01.002