Psychometric Properties of a Primary Care Mental Health Screening Tool for Young Children

The purpose of this article is to examine the psychometric properties of the Primary Care Mental Health Screener (PCMHS; Hartung & Lefler, 2010) for children. Fifty-eight parent-child dyads with children ages 3 to 8 were recruited. Child participants were administered IQ and achievement measures, and parents completed the screening tool and multiple measures of emotional, behavior, and social functioning. Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses suggest that the PCMHS has promising psychometric properties for several common clinical disorders (i.e., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and anxiety). The PCMHS is a promising new screening tool. Implications, limitations, and future directions for research on children's mental health screening are discussed.