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The Parental Concerns Questionnaire: A Brief Screening Instrument for Potentially Severe Behavior Problems in Infants and Toddlers At-Risk for Developmental Delays

Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities volume 26, pages 237–247 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The Parental Concerns Questionnaire (PCQ) was designed as a parent-interview screening instrument for young children with developmental concerns at risk for potentially severe behavior problems (SBDs). Parents of 262 young children (4 to 48 months) answered to the 15 dichotomous PCQ items interviewed by trained staff. Cluster analysis for items revealed three item clusters, which we labeled Developmental/Social (8 items), Biomedical (3 items), and Behavior Problems (3 items). This paper discussed primarily the Behavior Problems cluster, with items referring to self-injurious, aggressive, and destructive behaviors. Parents’ concerns about behavior problems were high, with item-endorsements of the Behavior Problems cluster ranging from 41.8 % to 68.8 %. The Behavior Problems cluster was significantly correlated with all three subscales of the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01), with select subscales of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), and with the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) providing some evidence for concurrent validity. Sensitivity and specificity data were computed for the three PCQ items as well as for the cluster score in comparison with the BPI-01, ABC, and RBS-R showing strong sensitivity. The PCQ Behavior Problems cluster is a useful screening checklist with high sensitivity for potential SBDs in young children at-risk for developmental delays.

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Notes

  1. Two children who were performing SIB likely to cause tissue damage were removed from the study and put directly into an intensive behavior intervention program at CASP.

  2. Dichotomized scores were obtained by transforming the continuous subscales scores to dichotomous scores to 0 (subscale score 0) and 1 (subscale score > 0).

  3. also called “hit” or ”true positive” rates

  4. also called “false positive” or “false alarm” rates

  5. According to Tate (2013, August) AUC values indicate the accuracy of a test: .90–1.0 = excellent; 80–.90 = good; 70–.80 = fair; .60–.70 = poor; .50–.60 = fail. An area of 1 represents perfect accuracy and an area of .5 as represented by the diagonal line indicates zero accuracy.

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Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Stephen R. Schroeder & Judith LeBlanc

  2. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Johannes Rojahn & Xiaozhu An

  3. Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru, Lima, Peru

    Liliana Mayo-Ortega & Rosao Oyama-Ganiko

Authors
  1. Stephen R. Schroeder
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  2. Johannes Rojahn
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  3. Xiaozhu An
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  4. Liliana Mayo-Ortega
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  5. Rosao Oyama-Ganiko
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  6. Judith LeBlanc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen R. Schroeder.

Additional information

Disclaimer: Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center and the NICHD of the NIH under award number HD 060500. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the views of the National Institute of Health or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Schroeder, S.R., Rojahn, J., An, X. et al. The Parental Concerns Questionnaire: A Brief Screening Instrument for Potentially Severe Behavior Problems in Infants and Toddlers At-Risk for Developmental Delays. J Dev Phys Disabil 26, 237–247 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-013-9359-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-013-9359-8

Keywords

  • Screening
  • Behavior Problems
  • Infants
  • Toddlers
  • Developmental Delays