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Reliability of the Terry: A Mental Health Cartoon-Like Screener for African-American Children

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Abstract

Test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the Terry, a cartoon-based child mental health screener developed for African-American children, were measured in 36 boys (age 5 \({\raise0.7ex\hbox{$1$} \!\mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}}\right.\kern-\nulldelimiterspace}\!\lower0.7ex\hbox{$2$}}\) to 13) in a test-retest design. Reliability of the diagnosis (0.70 ≤ k ≤ 0.75) was good for ADHD, ODD, CD, and OAD, and excellent for MDD and SAD. Because of low base-rate, no kappa value was calculated for SPh. Both test-retest agreement, and reliability of the symptom scale (0.75 ≤ ICC≤0.80) were very good for all 7 diagnoses. Internal consistency according to symptom scale (0.78≤ Cronbach α≤O.90), was moderate for OAD, good for SPh, MDD, SAD, CD, and ODD, and excellent for ADHD. The Terry is a culturally-sensitive questionnaire with good reliability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health/Preventive Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, 76107-2699

    Michelle Bidaut-Russell

  2. University of Montreal, Canada

    Jean-Pierre Valla

  3. St. Louis University School of Medicine, USA

    Jean M. Thomas

  4. Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital, Canada

    Lise Bergeron

  5. University of North Texas, USA

    Erma Lawson

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  1. Michelle Bidaut-Russell
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Bidaut-Russell, M., Valla, JP., Thomas, J.M. et al. Reliability of the Terry: A Mental Health Cartoon-Like Screener for African-American Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 28, 249–263 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022636115485

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