Screening for preschool posttraumatic stress disorder with the Child Behavior Checklist

OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychometric properties and utility of a Child Behavior Checklist-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CBCL-PTSD) Scale to screen for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in traumatized preschool children. METHOD: Data for this study were drawn from a study of young child trauma and consisted of 62 traumatized children, 23 months through 6 years of age. The children's mothers were interviewed about PTSD symptoms and then completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS: The modified CBCL-PTSD correlated highly with the number of PTSD symptoms from the interview (r = 0.66). The CBCL-PTSD scale predicted PTSD symptoms above and beyond the internalizing and externalizing scales of the CBCL. A cutoff score of nine on this scale possessed the best sensitivity and specificity in classifying those traumatized children who met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. CONCLUSION: The modified CBCL-PTSD scale could be a useful cost-effective tool to screen for PTSD in traumatized, preschool-age children.