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Using a Brief Parent-Report Measure to Track Outcomes for Children and Teens with Internalizing Disorders

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Abstract

The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) is a widely-used, parent-completed measure of children’s emotional and behavioral functioning. Previous research has shown that the PSC and its subscales are generally responsive to patient progress over the course of psychiatric treatment. In this naturalistic study, we examined the performance and utility of the five-item PSC Internalizing Subscale (PSC-IS) as an assessment of routine treatment in outpatient pediatric psychiatry. Parents and clinicians of 1,593 patients aged 17 or younger completed standardized measures at intake and three-month follow-up appointments. Comparisons between PSC-IS scores and clinician-reported diagnoses, internalizing symptoms, and overall functioning showed acceptable levels of agreement. Change scores on the PSC-IS were also larger among patients with internalizing diagnoses than those with non-internalizing diagnoses. As a brief measure of internalizing symptoms, the PSC may be particularly useful to mental health clinicians treating youth with depression and anxiety as a quality assurance or treatment outcome measure.

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Acknowledgments

A portion of Dr. Murphy’s time for the planning and data analysis for this study was made possible by a grant from the Fuss Family Fund. The support of the Fuss Family Fund is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Hayley S. Kamin

  2. Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Alyssa E. McCarthy

  3. Child Psychiatry Service, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, YAW 6A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Madelaine R. Abel, Michael S. Jellinek, Lee Baer & J. Michael Murphy

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael S. Jellinek, Lee Baer & J. Michael Murphy

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael S. Jellinek

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  1. Hayley S. Kamin
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  2. Alyssa E. McCarthy
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  3. Madelaine R. Abel
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  4. Michael S. Jellinek
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  5. Lee Baer
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  6. J. Michael Murphy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Michael Murphy.

Appendix: DSM-IV Axis I Diagnoses Coded as Internalizing Disorders

Appendix: DSM-IV Axis I Diagnoses Coded as Internalizing Disorders

296.00 Bipolar I Disorder, Single Manic Episode, Unspecified

296.20 Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode, Unspecified

296.21 Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode, Mild

296.22 Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode, Moderate

296.23 Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode, Severe Without Psychotic Features

296.30 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Unspecified

296.31 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Mild

296.32 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Moderate

296.33 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Severe Without Psychotic Features

296.34 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Severe With Psychotic Features

296.35 Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, In Partial Remission

296.40 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Manic, Unspecified

296.42 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Manic, Moderate

296.50 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Depressed, Unspecified

296.53 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Depressed, Severe Without Psychotic Features 296.60 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Mixed, Unspecified

296.64 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Mixed, Severe With Psychotic Features

296.70 Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Unspecified

296.80 Bipolar Disorder NOS

296.89 Bipolar II Disorder

296.90 Mood Disorder NOS

300.00 Anxiety Disorder, NOS

300.01 Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia

300.02 Generalized Anxiety Disorder

300.20 Phobia Unspecified

300.21 Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia

300.22 Agoraphobia without History of Panic Disorder

300.23 Social Phobia

300.29 Specific Phobia

300.30 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

300.40 Dysthymic Disorder

308.30 Acute Stress Disorder

309.81 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

311.00 Depressive Disorder NOS

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Kamin, H.S., McCarthy, A.E., Abel, M.R. et al. Using a Brief Parent-Report Measure to Track Outcomes for Children and Teens with Internalizing Disorders. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 46, 851–862 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0525-8

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