Factor structure of child behaviour symptoms in a Swedish sample

Abstract

The stability of a factor structure of child behaviour problems over different instruments, informants, sources of items, methods of analyses, samples, and countries is of substantial importance. The behavioural and emotional problems of 948 Swedish children were investigated by means of interviews with parents and/or teachers. A factor structure was derived with stability over different samples and methods of analyses and substantial relationships to DSM-III diagnoses. When the structure was compared both for content and empirically with that of Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, considerable similarities were found both for broad-band and narrow-band syndromes, strongly supporting the generality of this structure.

Key Words:

• Child Behavior Checklist
• Children
• Factor Malysis
• Symptom interview
• Syndromes