The Utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Predicting Mental Disorders in the Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health

Melissa L Danielson; Hannah D Kassab; Mary Lee; Julie Sarno Owens; Steven W Evans; Corey Lipton; Sana Charania; Hayley Elia Young; Lorraine F Kubicek; Kate Flory; Steven P Cuffe

doi:10.1002/pits.22856

The Utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Predicting Mental Disorders in the Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health

Psychol Sch. 2023 Jan 21;60(7):2320-2341. doi: 10.1002/pits.22856.

Authors

Melissa L Danielson¹, Hannah D Kassab², Mary Lee², Julie Sarno Owens², Steven W Evans², Corey Lipton^{1

3}, Sana Charania^{1

3}, Hayley Elia Young^{1

4}, Lorraine F Kubicek⁵, Kate Flory⁶, Steven P Cuffe⁷

Affiliations

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Atlanta GA.
² Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH.
³ Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN.
⁴ Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL.

Abstract

We examined the predictive utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-2-BESS) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in identifying students with a mental disorder. Data were collected in a two-stage study over 34 months with kindergarten-12^th grade (K-12) students (aged 5-19 years) in four U.S. school districts. In Stage 1, teachers completed the BASC-2-BESS and the SDQ. In Stage 2, parents of 1,054 children completed a structured diagnostic interview to determine presence of a mental disorder. Results suggest that teacher versions of the BASC-2-BESS and SDQ have modest utility in identifying children meeting criteria for a mental disorder based on parent report. Area Under the Curve (AUC) statistics representing prediction of any externalizing disorder (.73 for both measures) were higher than the AUCs predicting any internalizing disorder (.58 for both measures). Findings can inform the use of teacher report in mental health screening, specifically the selection of measures when implementing screening procedures.

Keywords: adolescents; children; mental health; psychometrics; screening.

Abstract

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