Investigating the Structure of the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist in the Preschool Setting

When using educational/psychological instruments, psychometric investigations should be conducted before adopting to new environments to ensure that an instrument measures the same constructs. Exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to examine the utility of the short form of the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist (PSC-17) in the school setting. Using a sample of 836 preschool children rated by teachers, three factors were identified across both techniques, with factors matching the hypothesized structure of the instrument. The PSC-17 may be an option for use in preschool settings when conducting behavioral and emotional screening.