Identification of clinically relevant dimensions of children's behavior

The Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC) is set of descriptions of children's behavior that may be rated by a child's parent. It is based on Os' reports of children's behavior in different settings and consists of 6 relatively independent dimensions or scales (Aggression, Inhibition, Activity Level, Sleep Disturbance, Somatization, and Sociability). The scales can be rated with resonable reliability, and the scale scores, based on ratings by mothers, discriminate at least 2 groups of clinically different children. The dimensions of the MCBC appear to be sufficiently independent, reliable, and discriminating to warrant further use as 1 approach to the quantitative evaluation of children's behavior. (15 ref.)