British norms and psychometric properties of the Boxall Profile for primary school-aged children

ABSTRACT

The Boxall Profile is one of the most frequently used tools to measure the social, emotional, behavioural and/or mental health difficulties (SEMH) of children and young people in schools across the UK. However, limited evidence exists regarding the norms and psychometric properties of the tool. The current study used data from 487 primary school-aged children to carry out a re-standardisation and explore a range of psychometric properties of the Boxall Profile. Updated norms were established for 4- to 11-year-old children using a Receiver Operating Characteristic approach and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as gold standard measure for SEMH difficulties. Psychometric analyses indicated good internal consistency, concurrent validity and convergent validity but also highlighted the need for further research into the structural validity of the tool. To our knowledge, this is the first study providing substantial evidence for the reliability and validity of the Boxall Profile since its publication in 1984.

KEYWORDS:

• Boxall Profile
• social emotional and behavioural difficulties
• psychometric properties
• mental health
• children

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all teaching staff for taking the time to assess the children in this study and the primary school for sharing the data with the researcher. Many thanks also to Kevin Kibble, Marianne Coleman and the Board of Trustees at nurtureuk for supporting this research and to Angeliki Kallitsoglou for providing feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

This research was supported by the Nurture Group Network Ltd (charity registered in England and Wales with charity number: 1115972. Scottish registered charity number: SC042703) who owns the copyrights of the Boxall Profile and where the author was employed over the course of the study. In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I am a consultant to the Nurture Group Network Ltd that may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper. I have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and I have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this work.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Florence J. M. Ruby

Florence J. M. Ruby is Research Consultant (previously Research and Evaluation Manager) at nurtureuk, a UK-based charity supporting children and young people with social, emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties. Her background is in psychology and cognitive neuroscience with a particular interest in improving current approaches to identifying children and young people’s mental health difficulties and understanding what works when supporting mental health needs. Florence is also Research Associate at the Child Outcomes Research Consortium and Evidence Based Practice Unit at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.