Psychometric properties of a French-Canadian translation of Achenbach's Youth Self-Report

This study examined internal consistency, concurrent validity, and test-retest reliability of a French-Canadian translation of Achenbach's Youth Self-Report YSR; (Achenbach, 1991a) in a nonreferred sample, ages 13-18. Forty-eight bilingual and 64 English-speaking adolescents and their parents participated. ANOVA comparing the standard English YSR and Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991b) indicated no main effects for adolescent gender or language, but adolescents reported more pathology than did their parents. The standard and French YSR scales were highly correlated (r = .96-.98), and parallel items elicited similar responses. Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the French YSR scales ranged from 0.83 to 0.92, and test-retest correlations were robust (r = .85-.88). Bilinguals who spoke predominantly French at home reported more internalizing pathology on the French than on the English YSR, but external validation is necessary to determine which report is more valid. Further investigation of the French YSR in referred samples is recommended.