Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Pediatric Symptom Checklist

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The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) is a 35-question psychological assessment tool designed to evaluate and identify cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. There are four versions of the PSC, including a full-length parent-report form (PSC), a full-length youth self-report form (Y-PSC), a shortened parent-report form (PSC-17), and a shortened youth self-report form (Y-PSC-17). The PSC contains a series of statements regarding the child's emotions and behavior. Respondents are asked to indicate to what degree the statement describes the child, with response options of "never", "sometimes", and "often". The PSC is available in six languages, including Spanish and German. The questionnaire takes about 5-10 minutes to complete and the is designed for use with children ages 4 and up (PSC) and adolescents ages 11 and up (Y-PSC). Several peer-reviewed research studies support the Pediatric Symptom Checklist as a reliable and valid measure of psychological symptoms in children and adolescents, giving it an assessment rating of "A — Reliability and Validity Demonstrated".

Contents

Question breakdown

The PSC and Y-PSC include three subscales, the questions of which evaluate a given symptom set:

  • Attention problems subscale: questions 4, 7, 8, 9, and 14
  • A score of 7 or higher on this subscale indicates significant impairments in attention.
  • Internalizing problems subscale: questions 11, 13, 19, 22, and 27
  • A score of 5 or higher on this subscale indicates significant symptoms of anxiety and depression.
  • Externalizing problems subscale: questions 16, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35
  • A score of 7 or higher on this subscale indicates significant problems with conduct.

    • Scoring

    Scoring the PSC is based on a 0-2 scale, with each question being scored as follows based on responses:

  • 0 points: 0, meaning "never"
  • 1 point: 1, meaning "sometimes"
  • 2 points: 2, meaning "often"

    • Cutoffs

    Scores are summed to yield the total score. Cutoff scores vary based on the measure format and on age:

  • PSC:
  • For children ages 4 and 5, a score of 24 or higher indicates significant psychological impairment.
  • For children ages 6 to 16, a score of 28 or higher indicates significant psychological impairment.
  • Y-PSC:

    • -For adolescents of all ages, a score of 30 or higher indicates significant psychological impairment.

  • PSC-17:
  • For children of all ages, a score of 15 or higher indicates significant psychological impairment.

    • References

    Pediatric Symptom Checklist Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA