The child behaviour checklist in a melbourne urban sample

Abstract

Child Behaviour Checklist scores for 7‐, 12‐, and 15‐year‐olds from a two‐stage cluster sample of Melbourne schoolchildren were compared with U.S. 1991 norms and with children from Sydney. This study was prompted by a previous finding that Sydney parents rated children substantially higher on behaviour problems compared with U.S. norms. Response rates in Melbourne parents varied from 30–60% for the different age groups with 7‐year‐olds having the highest response rate. The Melbourne 7‐year‐olds' mean problem scores were not significantly different from the U.S. norms. The 12‐ and 15‐year‐olds' scores were slightly lower than U.S. norms. No significant differences were found for the total competence score except for the 7‐year‐old boys, who scored lower than the U.S. norms. In contrast, both the Melbourne and U.S. samples scored significantly lower than Sydney on the problem scores and the younger Sydney children scored significantly higher than Melbourne 7‐year‐olds on the competence score. Due to the modest response rates, especially for the older children, the low scores need to be interpreted with caution and should not be interpreted as Australian normative data. The differences between Melbourne and Sydney scores could not be fully explained, however, by differences in sample selection or SES distribution. Despite the restrictions of this study, these results suggest there is additional support for the view that the U.S. normative data may be appropriate for use with Australian children.