Kenneth D. Gadow, PhD, Joyce Sprafkin, PhD
Purpose: Screens for emotional and behavioral disorders in children
Age: 6 through to 12 yrs
Time: Varies
Admin: Individual
These two rating scales--one completed by the teacher, one by the parent--are used to screen 5- to 12-year-olds for symptoms of common childhood psychiatric disorders. Based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, these scales assist both educators and clinicians. They give schools a cost-effective way to convey clinically relevant information about the students they refer for evaluation or special services. And they give clinicians useful diagnostic information from parents and teachers. Completed and scored before the child sees the clinician, the CSI-4 makes it easier to conduct a focused, efficient interview, detect comorbid conditions, and make differential diagnoses.
The inventory offers both criterion-related cut-off scores and norm-based scores for determining symptom severity (low, moderate, or high, based on teacher and parent ratings of 6- to 12-year-olds).
A practical alternative to expensive, time-consuming psychiatric interviews, the CSI-4 lists symptoms of emotional and behavioral disorders specified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA):
| ADHD | Dysthymia | |
| Oppositional Defiant Disorder | Asperger's Syndrome | |
| Conduct Disorder | Pervasive Developmental Disorder | |
| Separation Anxiety | Schizophrenia | |
| Generalized Anxiety | Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder | |
| Social Phobia | Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | |
| Specific Phobia | Motor Tic Disorder | |
| Depression | Vocal Tic Disorder | |
The Parent Checklist contains 97 items covering 17 disorders, while the Teacher Checklist contains 77 items related to 13 disorders. The teacher or parent rates each item on a 4-point response scale, indicating how often the symptom is observed in the child being evaluated. Responses are scored for symptom count and symptom severity. These two scores are compared to determine whether the child should be evaluated further.
The Checklists can also be computer scored. CSI-4 Software prints three reports: raw scores, scores above the cutoff, and a narrative describing the disorders associated with above-cutoff scores. These reports can be printed or sent to a text file for editing.
Completed in just 10 minutes, the CSI-4 integrates medical and educational classification systems. It gathers information from parents and teachers in a way that's compatible with the diagnostic system used by physicians and psychologists. This improves communication between the school and the mental health practitioner, and it provides the basis for a DSM-IV diagnosis--often required for reimbursement.
