Outcome Measure
Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17
What it measures?
- The PSC-17 is a screening tool designed to assess a child’s overall psychosocial functioning and identify changes in cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems (Gardner et al., 1999). It contains three subscales of internalising, attention, and externalising problems.
Who is it for?
The PSC-17 is designed for use in children between 4 - 15 years old (Gardner et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 2016)
Instrument Quality
- The PSC-17 is a widely recommended screening measure of psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents, used in clinical and research settings. It has been translated and validated for use in over two dozen languages and has strong psychometric properties (Murphy et al., 2016).
Structure
- 17 items - internalising (5), attention (5), externalising (7)
- 3-point Likert scale
- Respondents indicate how frequently (0 = "Never"; 2 = "Often") they have experienced psychosocial problems over the past 2 weeks
Scoring instructions
- Sum all item responses to derive a full-scale score
- Sum the relevant subscale-specific items to derive subscale scores
| Subscale | Item number |
|---|---|
Internalising |
2,6,9,11,15 |
Attention |
1,3,7,13,17 |
Externalising |
4,5,8,10,12,14,16 |
Full-scale (PSC-17) |
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 |
Score Interpretation
What higher scores mean?
- Higher scores indicate impairment in psychosocial functioning spanning cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioural problems. Elevated scores identify ‘at risk’ individuals requiring further comprehensive assessments by a qualified health professional (Gardner et al., 1999).
How to assess symptom severity & change?
| Description | Score Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0 | |
| Clinically significant | 5 | |
| Maximum | 10 |
| Description | Score Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0 | |
| Clinically significant | 7 | |
| Maximum | 10 |
Severity ranges
Total full-scale scores equal to or greater than 15 indicate overall mental health risk and should be further assessed be a qualified medical health professional (Gardner et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 2016)
Reliable change and clinically significant improvement
Wampold et al (2001) conducted a meta analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies and noted that the average improvement was reflected in an effect size (ES) of .80. Because a change of 1 SD corresponds to an ES of 1.0, and .80 is considered to be a large ES, Wise (2004) concludes that a change of 1 SD is a defensible indicator of clinically significant change.
Mean
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 3.6 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 2.67 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Standard Deviation
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 2.8 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 2.43 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Reliability
| Value | Comments |
|---|---|
| 0.83 | Test-retest reliability (ICC) over 8-14 days was high in a United States national sample of children in outpatient paediatric care (n = 80,680; Murphy et al., 2016). |
| Description | Score Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0 | |
| Clinically significant | 7 | |
| Maximum | 14 |
Severity ranges
Total full-scale scores equal to or greater than 15 indicate overall mental health risk and should be further assessed be a qualified medical health professional (Gardner et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 2016)
Reliable change and clinically significant improvement
Wampold et al (2001) conducted a meta analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies and noted that the average improvement was reflected in an effect size (ES) of .80. Because a change of 1 SD corresponds to an ES of 1.0, and .80 is considered to be a large ES, Wise (2004) concludes that a change of 1 SD is a defensible indicator of clinically significant change.
Mean
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 3.9 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 2.78 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Standard Deviation
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 3.2 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 2.78 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Reliability
| Value | Comments |
|---|---|
| 0.82 | Test-retest reliability (ICC) over 8-14 days was high in a United States national sample of children in outpatient paediatric care (n = 80,680; Murphy et al., 2016). |
| Description | Score Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0 | |
| Clinically significant | 15 | |
| Maximum | 34 |
Severity ranges
Total full-scale scores equal to or greater than 15 indicate overall mental health risk and should be further assessed be a qualified medical health professional (Gardner et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 2016)
Reliable change and clinically significant improvement
Wampold et al (2001) conducted a meta analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies and noted that the average improvement was reflected in an effect size (ES) of .80. Because a change of 1 SD corresponds to an ES of 1.0, and .80 is considered to be a large ES, Wise (2004) concludes that a change of 1 SD is a defensible indicator of clinically significant change.
Mean
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 11.4 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 6.74 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Standard Deviation
| Sample | Mean | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical | 7.3 | * Clinical scores were derived from a sample of 269 (126 males,143 females) ‘at risk’ children and adolescents aged 8.1 (2.1) years from the United States in primary care (Gardner et al., 2007). * ‘At risk’ individuals were defined as having a positive screening on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) or the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED, 5-item). |
| Normative | 5.62 | Normative scores were derived from a sample of 322 healthy children and adolescents aged 11.33 (3.58) years (164 males, 158 females) from diverse ethnic backgrounds without any chronic illness or developmental delays (Stoppelbein et al., 2012). |
Reliability
| Value | Comments |
|---|---|
| 0.85 | Test-retest reliability (ICC) over 8-14 days was high in a United States national sample of children in outpatient paediatric care (n = 80,680; Murphy et al., 2016). |
Instrument developers
- Gardner, W., Murphy, M., Childs, G., Kelleher, K., & Sturner, R. (1999). The PSC-17: a brief Pediatric Symptom Checklist with psychosocial problem subscales. A report from PROS and ASPN. Ambulatory Child Health, 5(3), 225–236.
Refrences
* Gardner, W., Murphy, M., Childs, G., Kelleher, K., & Sturner, R. (1999). The PSC-17: a brief Pediatric Symptom Checklist with psychosocial problem subscales. A report from PROS and ASPN. Ambulatory Child Health, 5(3), 225–236. * Gardner, W., Lucas, A., Kolko, D. J., & Campo, J. V. (2007). Comparison of the PSC-17 and alternative mental health screens in an at-risk primary care sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(5), 611-618. * Murphy, J. M., Bergmann, P., Chiang, C., Sturner, R., Howard, B., Abel, M. R., & Jellinek, M. (2016). The PSC-17: subscale scores, reliability, and factor structure in a new national sample. Pediatrics, 138(3). * Stoppelbein, L., Greening, L., Moll, G., Jordan, S., & Suozzi, A. (2012). Factor analyses of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 with African-American and Caucasian pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 37(3), 348-357.
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Severity ranges
Total full-scale scores equal to or greater than 15 indicate overall mental health risk and should be further assessed be a qualified medical health professional (Gardner et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 2016)
Reliable change and clinically significant improvement
Wampold et al (2001) conducted a meta analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies and noted that the average improvement was reflected in an effect size (ES) of .80. Because a change of 1 SD corresponds to an ES of 1.0, and .80 is considered to be a large ES, Wise (2004) concludes that a change of 1 SD is a defensible indicator of clinically significant change.
Mean
Standard Deviation
Reliability