Long-term stability of child behavior checklist profile types in a child psychiatric clinic population

Objective: To study the long-term stability of Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) profile types, which represent children's overall patterns of single and comorbid scale elevations. Method: Profile types were determined for 623 outpatient children at referral and then at mean follow-up 4.8 years later, and their continuity was determined. Results: At baseline 37.5% of the Children were classified by a profile type, and 41.9% of these originally classified children continued to be classified at follow-up. The average odds ratio for a child continuing as a specific CBCL profile type from baseline to follow-up was 8.2. When children changed from one specific profile type to another, they usually continued in the same broad externalizing or internalizing category. Children who were not classified by a profile type at baseline generally remained unclassified. Conclusions: Stability findings for CBCL profile types appeared good and were similar to past longitudinal results for CBCL scales and DSM diagnoses. These profile types may prove an important empirical method for addressing the problem of comorbid clinical pictures.