Developing and Validating Short Forms of the Parent General Behavior Inventory Mania and Depression Scales for Rating Youth Mood Symptoms

Abstract

To develop short forms of parent-rated mania and depression scales, evaluating their reliability, content coverage, criterion validity, and diagnostic accuracy. Caregivers completed the Parent General Behavior Inventory about their youth 5–18 years of age seeking outpatient mental health services at either an academic medical clinic (n = 617) or urban community mental health center (n = 530), along with other rating scales. Families also completed a semistructured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview, with the rating scales masked during diagnosis. Ten-item short forms and projections of their psychometrics (vs. the full-length 46-item Depression and 28-item Hypomanic/Biphasic scales) were built in the academic sample and then externally cross-validated in the community sample. The mania and two depression short forms maintained high reliability (αs > .87 across both samples); high correlations with the full-length scales (rs> .93); excellent convergent and discriminant validity with mood, behavior, and demographic criteria; and diagnostic accuracy undiminished compared to using the full-length scales. Present analyses developed and externally cross-validated 10-item short forms that maintain high reliability and content coverage and show strong criterion validity and diagnostic accuracy—even when used in an independent sample with markedly different demographics and referral patterns. The short forms appear useful in clinical applications, including screening and initial evaluation, as well as in research settings, where they offer an inexpensive quantitative score. Future work should further evaluate sensitivity to treatment effects. The short forms are available in more than a dozen translations.

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Funding

This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health R01 MH066647 (PI: E. Youngstrom) and a grant from the Stanley Medical Research Institute (PI: R.L. Findling).