Assessing emotional and behavioral problems in children with intellectual disability: revisiting the factor structure of the developmental behavior checklist.

The team looked at the Developmental Behaviour Checklist again. They wanted cleaner subscales for kids with intellectual disability.

They ran a new factor analysis on parent reports. The goal was to find the best way to group problem behaviours.

Five clear factors emerged. The new subscales are Disruptive, Self-Absorbed, Communication, Anxiety, and Social.

Each subscale had good internal consistency. The revised structure is ready for clinical use.

Hastings et al. (2001) had already shown the original DBC worked well. This study refines that work by trimming extra factors.

Balboni et al. (2014) used similar methods to refine the DABS for diagnosing ID. Both papers show how psychometric tweaks make tools sharper.

Wuang et al. (2009) also shortened a motor test for the same population. The pattern is clear: fewer items, cleaner factors, better reliability.

You can now use the five-factor DBC to screen emotional problems in kids with ID. Pick the subscale that matches your concern. Track Disruptive for tantrums, Anxiety for fears, or Communication for language-linked behaviours.