Our sample can be characterized as high risk (baseline ECBI T
score > 55) 42 or at the borderline of clinical (T
score > 60), 34 which is typical of previous randomized clinical trials of parent training for young children.41 The results across methods in this study are impressive
given that effect sizes have been shown to be associated with the magnitude of
symptom severity at baseline, 43 and thus it is typically more difficult to find large effects in prevention than in intervention trials.
Participants Data from the Nord - Trøndelag Health Study 1995 — 1997 (HUNT)
gave information on anxiety and depression
symptoms as self - reported by 7497 school - attending adolescents (Hopkins Symptoms Checklist — SCL - 5 score) and their parents (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
symptoms as self - reported by 7497 school - attending adolescents (Hopkins
Symptoms Checklist — SCL - 5 score) and their parents (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Symptoms Checklist — SCL - 5
score) and their parents (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
score).
Many of the scales demonstrated weak psychometrics in at least one of the following ways: (a) lack of psychometric data [i.e., reliability and / or validity; e.g., HFQ, MASC, PBS, Social Adjustment Scale - Self - Report (SAS - SR) and all perceived self - esteem and self - concept scales], (b) items that fall on more than one subscale (e.g., CBCL - 1991 version), (c) low alpha coefficients (e.g., below.60) for some subscales, which calls into question the utility of using these subscales in research and clinical work (e.g., HFQ, MMPI - A, CBCL - 1991 version, BASC, PSPCSAYC), (d) high correlations between subscales (e.g., PANAS - C), (e) lack of clarity regarding clinically - relevant cut - off
scores, yielding high false positive and false negative rates (e.g., CES - D, CDI) and an inability to distinguish between minor (i.e., subclinical) and major (i.e., clinical) «cases» of a disorder (e.g., depression; CDI, BDI), (f) lack of correspondence between items and DSM criteria (e.g., CBCL - 1991 version, CDI, BDI, CES - D, (g) a factor structure that lacks clarity across studies (e.g., PSPCSAYC, CASI; although the factor structure is often difficult to assess in studies of pediatric populations,
given the small sample sizes), (h) low inter-rater reliability for interview and observational methods (e.g., CGAS), (i) low correlations between respondents such as child, parent, teacher [e.g., BASC, PSPCSAYC, CSI, FSSC - R, SCARED, Connors Ratings Scales - Revised (CRS - R)-RSB-, (j) the inclusion of somatic or physical
symptom items on mental health subscales (e.g., CBCL), which is a problem when conducting studies of children with pediatric physical conditions because physical
symptoms may be a feature of the condition rather than an indicator of a mental health problem, (k) high correlations with measures of social desirability, which is particularly problematic for the self - related rating scales and for child - report scales more generally, and (l) content validity problems (e.g., the RCMAS is a measure of anxiety, but contains items that tap mood, attention, peer interactions, and impulsivity).