Observational Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior, Part II: validity of the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS).

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
To examine the validity of the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS), a new observational method for assessing preschool disruptive behavior.

METHOD:
A total of 327 behaviorally heterogeneous preschoolers from low-income environments comprised the validation sample. Parent and teacher reports were used to identify children with clinically significant disruptive behavior. The DB-DOS assessed observed disruptive behavior in two domains, problems in Behavioral Regulation and Anger Modulation, across three interactional contexts:
Examiner Engaged, Examiner Busy, and Parent. Convergent and divergent validity of the DB-DOS were tested in relation to parent and teacher reports and independently observed behavior. Clinical validity was tested in terms of criterion and incremental validity of the DB-DOS for discriminating disruptive behavior status and impairment, concurrently and longitudinally.

RESULTS:
DB-DOS scores were significantly associated with reported and independently observed behavior in a theoretically meaningful fashion. Scores from both DB-DOS domains and each of the three DB-DOS contexts contributed uniquely to discrimination of disruptive behavior status, concurrently and predictively. Observed behavior on the DB-DOS also contributed incrementally to prediction of impairment over time, beyond variance explained by meeting DSM-IV disruptive behavior disorder symptom criteria based on parent/teacher report.

CONCLUSIONS:
The multidomain, multicontext approach of the DB-DOS is a valid method for direct assessment of preschool disruptive behavior. This approach shows promise for enhancing accurate identification of clinically significant disruptive behavior in young children and for characterizing subtypes in a manner that can directly inform etiological and intervention research.

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Author information

Author/s: Wakschlag, Lauren S (LS); Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J (MJ); Hill, Carri (C); Danis, Barbara (B); Leventhal, Bennett L (BL); Keenan, Kate (K); Egger, Helen L (HL); Cicchetti, Domenic (D); Burns, James (J); Carter, Alice S (AS);

Affiliation: Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry (MC 747), University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. lwakschlag@psych.uic.edu

Grants: MH62437 (Agency:United States NIMH) ; R01 MH68455 (Agency:United States NIMH)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 47 (issue 6) : pp 632-41

Dates: Created 2008/05/22; Completed 2008/06/11;

PMID: 18434925, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; psychology
Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; psychology
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Male

Male
Observer Variation
Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data
Reproducibility of Results
Social Environment

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