The CBCL and the identification of children with autism and related conditions in Brazil: pilot findings.
The CBCL/4-18 Autistic/Bizarre factor separated Brazilian children with autism from clinical and school peers, but later U.S. work shows the same tool can also over-flag kids, so choose your cut-off carefully.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers gave the CBCL/4-18 to three groups of Brazilian 4- to 11-year-olds. One group had autism. One group had other clinical problems. One group came from regular schools.
They looked at two CBCL sections: the Autistic/Bizarre factor and the Thought Problems scale. They wanted to see if these scores could tell the groups apart.
What they found
Kids with autism scored higher on both sections. The scores were clearly different from the other two groups. The CBCL flagged most children with autism while keeping most non-autistic kids out.
How this fits with other research
De Kegel et al. (2016) later found the opposite in U.S. kids. Their CBCL picked up too many false alarms. The difference is size and setting: the 2003 pilot was small and mixed clinic plus school kids; the 2016 study was larger and mostly school-based.
So et al. (2013) built on the idea by shrinking the CBCL to 10 key items. Their short scale kept the good catch rate but cut the false alarms.
Neely et al. (2015) got similar good news in Korean preschoolers using a younger CBCL form. Together these studies show the tool can work, yet you must pick the right version and cut-off for your setting.
Why it matters
If you work in Brazil and need a quick first-step screen, the full CBCL/4-18 Autistic/Bizarre factor can still help. Use it to spot kids who need a full autism evaluation, but pair it with other tools to avoid misses and false positives. Check newer short forms like Pety’s 10-item set for faster forms.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
UNLABELLED: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)/4-18 is one of the few standardized means available for assessing child mental health in Brazil. In this context, the identification of a specific pathology such as autism by the CBCL/4-18 is relevant. To examine the validity of the CBCL/4-18 for the identification of autism, the CBCL/4-18 was applied to 101 children: 36 with autism and related conditions, 31 with other psychiatric disorders, and 34 schoolchildren. Children ranged in age from 4 to 11 years. A CBCL factor called Autistic/Bizarre and the narrow-band Thought Problems scale differentiated autistic conditions from other psychiatric disorders and schoolchildren. CONCLUSION: The CBCL/4-16 can identify autistic children in clinical and school settings in Brazil.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2003 · doi:10.1023/b:jadd.0000006005.31818.1c