Comparison of Assessment Tool Constructs

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Comparison of Assessment Tool Constructs Heidi McDaniel Capella University Child Behavior Checklist There are many checklists that can be utilized to use with children and adolescents. Some counseling agencies have developed their own informal checklists, while others use standardized checklists. “A widely used set of checklists for children is the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, which has three versions (Preschool, School-Age, and Young Adults),” (Whiston, 2009, p. 129). By utilizing these checklists, therapists and clinicians can collect information from different sources, such as the child or adolescent, parents, teachers, etc. One commonly used assessment tool from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment is the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). “The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) is one of the most commonly used parent-report questionnaires for assessing emotional and behavioral functioning in youth,” (Jastrowski et al., 2009, p. 606). This checklist is generally used on children and adolescents from ages six to eighteen, and the parent or guardian is the person who is responsible for completing the checklist. The checklist includes items such as the child is withdrawn, sleep problems, anxious/depressed, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, delinquent, aggressive, etc. With the CBCL, the clinician simply scans the results and examines which symptoms seem to be troubling, according to the parent. Some checklists may require the clinician to tally the score up to get a composite score, which may point to problems with anger, attention, etc. Parents are frequently involved in the assessment of child and adolescent functioning, and are most often the person who pursues child mental health referrals. Parents are able to provide the therapist or clinician with information about the child’s
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