An accurate and efficient identification of children with psychosocial problems by means of computerized adaptive testing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Questionnaires used by health services to identify children with psychosocial problems are often rather short. The psychometric properties of such short questionnaires are mostly less than needed for an accurate distinction between children with and without problems. We aimed to assess whether a short Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) can overcome the weaknesses of short written questionnaires when identifying children with psychosocial problems.

Method

We used a Dutch national data set obtained from parents of children invited for a routine health examination by Preventive Child Healthcare with 205 items on behavioral and emotional problems (n = 2,041, response 84%). In a random subsample we determined which items met the requirements of an Item Response Theory (I

SUBMITTER: Vogels AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3199909 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature