Preliminary Examination of a New Mental Health Screener in a Pediatric Sample

IntroductionApproximately 80% of children with mental health problems do not receive services. It has been recommended that mental health screening be conducted during pediatric visits (Huffman & Nichols, 2004).MethodsThe Primary Care Mental Health Screener (PCMHS) was designed to screen for DSM-IV disorders (APA, 1994) in children. The PCMHS was completed by 328 parents of 3- to 12-year-olds.ResultsThe long-form showed adequate to excellent internal consistency across three age groups and eight subscales with one exception (depression in preschoolers). Next, data were used to shorten the screener without compromising internal consistency, resulting in a 32-item short-form.DiscussionThe long-form of the PCMHS is a promising mental health screener. The internal consistency of the proposed short-form should be examined with a separate sample. Additional research is needed to improve the reliability of the PCMHS for 3- to 5-year-olds and, in general, to examine the validity of this screener.