Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Outcomes for

About the CBCL
The CBCL is one assessment tool within the family of assessment tools created by
Thomas M. Achenbach, PhD. The CBCL is designed to be completed by the parents or
caregivers of children between the ages of 6 and 18 (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). It provides
rich clinical data concerning the functioning of the child in several domains: social competence,
total problems, internalizing and externalizing syndromes. Scores are broken down into clinical
range, sub-clinical range and normal range for each domain.
Social competence of the child is reflected in the Total Competence score. This is made
up of a series of questions regarding how many friends the child has, how much time the child
spends with friends, how well they get along with family members such as siblings and how
many activities they participate in (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
The Total Problem score reflects the total score from the questions that parents have
answered about the problems their child is having. Examples include “acts too young for his/her
age,” “fails to finish things he/she starts,” “hears sounds or voices that aren’t there (describe):,”
“talks about killing self,” “disobedient at home.” There are a total of 113 problem items that the
parents must answer (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
The 113 problem items are also used to create Syndrome Scales. Each of the 113
questions factor into one of eight syndromes and one “other problems” scale. The eight
syndrome scales include: anxious / depressed, withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints, social
problems, thought problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behavior, and aggressive
behavior (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
The eight syndrome scales can be divided into internalizing syndromes
(anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, and somatic complaints), and externalizing syndromes
(rule-breaking behavior and aggressive behavior). The Internalizing Score and the Externalizing
Score are computed by summing the scores for the three internalizing syndromes for the
Internalizing Score and the scores for the two externalizing syndromes for the Externalizing
Score (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
The CBCL should be completed by a parent, or other caregiver who is close to the child.
In the event that the child is in DSS custody, a case-manager or therapist may complete the form.
If a child’s parents are unable to read or write well enough to complete the from accurately, then
a clinician may read the questions for them and record their answers. The CBCL is to be
administered at admission, again at six months, and at discharge. Five months has been
suggested as the minimum amount of time needed in order to show a change in scores from one
level to another (e.g. clinical range to normal range). However, at this time the number of
children who met this criterion was relatively low. In order to provide information on change in
score, a minimum time span of 30 days or more was applied.
Reference
Achenback, T.M., & Rescorla, L.A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-age Forms &
Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth &
Families.