Parenting Skills with Conduct Disordered Pre-Adolescents
Parenting Skills with Conduct Disordered Pre-Adolescents

Section 27
Bibliography & Selected Readings/ Authors/ Instructors

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Additional Readings

Factor Structure of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory: A Parent Rating Scale of Oppositional Defiant Behavior Toward Adults, Inattentive Behavior, and Conduct Problem Behavior. By: Burns, G. Leonard; Patterson, David R.. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, Dec2000, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p569-577, 9p, 4 charts; (AN 4701614)

The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) is used to measure disruptive behavior problems in children and adolescents. A controversy exists, however, on the dimensional structure of the ECBI. To evaluate this issue, an exploratory factor analysis was first performed on a sample of 1,263 children and adolescents. This analysis identified 3 meaningful factors (i. e., Oppositional Defiant Behavior Toward Adults, Inattentive Behavior, and Conduct Problem Behavior) and a fourth, poorly defined factor. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluated the fit of the 3 meaningful factors in a second sample of 1,264 children and adolescents. The 3-factor model with 2 correlated errors provided a excellent fit. This 3-factor model also provided a significantly better fit than 2- and 1-factor models. Multiple group CFA indicated that the factor pattern, item-factor loadings, factor correlations, and correlated errors were equivalent across the samples. The CFA on sex yielded similar results. Initial normative information is presented for boys (n = 1,322) and girls (n = 1,205) within 4 age ranges (i.e., 25, 6-9, 10-13, 14-17) for the 3 factors. The use of these 3 factors, especially Oppositional Defiant Behavior and Conduct Problem Behavior, should make the ECBI more useful as a screening and outcome measure.
The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) is a parent rating scale widely used to measure disruptive behavior problems in children and adolescents (McMahon & Estes, 1997). Although the ECBI has positive psychometric properties, a controversy exists on the dimensional structure of the measure. Whereas Eyberg (1992) considers the ECBI a unidimensional measure of conduct problem behavior, others (McMahon & Estes, 1997) view the ECBI as a multidimensional measure of disruptive behavior. Although the ECBI contains items similar to the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the controversy continues about the dimensional structure of the measure (Eyberg & Colvin, 1994).
Our goal was to reexamine the structure of the ECBI in a more sophisticated manner than the previous studies (Burns & Patterson, 1990, 1991; Burns, Patterson, Nussbaum, & Parker, 1991; Eyberg & Colvin, 1994; Eyberg & Robinson, 1983; Robinson, Eyberg, & Ross, 1980). In an earlier study (Burns & Patterson, 1991), for example, we examined the ECBI's structure in a sample of 1,526 children from five pediatric clinics from four states and in a random sample of 1,003 children from the Seattle School District. We performed a principal components analysis with varimax rotation on each sample. We also limited the number of factors a priori to three because the ECBI contained ADHD, ODD, and CD type items. Although the three dimensions roughly approximated ODD, CD, and ADHD, we did not examine the degree of model fit or the equivalence of the results across the samples or sex. In addition, because we restricted the exploratory factor analysis to three factors, the analysis was not really exploratory. Finally, given the high levels of comorbidity among ADHD, ODD, and CD (Quay & Hogan, 1999), it is questionable whether orthogonal (varimax) rotation was an appropriate decision. These early studies have thus involved a series of questionable statistical decisions and, given the complexities of factor analyses, it is not surprising the studies yielded different conclusions on the factor structure of the ECBI (e.g., Burns & Patterson, 1990, 1991; Eyberg & Colvin, 1994).
To evaluate the structure of the ECBI in a better manner, we first combined the pediatric and random samples. Our next step was to create two random samples from the total data set, 1,263 children and adolescents in the first sample and 1,264 in the second. We then performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with oblique rotation on the first sample. The goal of this exploratory analysis was to determine the number of clinically meaningful dimensions in the ECBI. The model selected from this EFA was then evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the second sample to determine if the model provided a good fit as well as a significantly better fit than simpler models. In addition, we performed a multiple group CFA to determine if the factor pattern, item-factor loadings, and factor correlations of the model were equivalent across sex and across the samples. Finally, if meaningful dimensions are identified and replicated, we will present initial normative data on these dimensions to make the ECBI more specific as a screening and outcome measure.

Method

Measure

ECBI. The ECBI contains 36 disruptive behavior problems. The parent indicates on a 7-point scale how often each behavior occurs; 1 (never), 2 and 3 (seldom), 4 (sometimes), 5 and 6 (often), and 7 (always). The parent also indicates if the occurrence of the specific behavior is currently a problem by circling "yes" or "no" for each behavior. This results in two summary scores--an intensity score (IS) and a problem score (PS). The IS score represents the total frequency of occurrence of the 36 behaviors (possible range from 36 to 252). The PS represents the total number of the 36 behaviors that are indicated to be problems (possible range from 0 to 36). Table 1 shows the 36 items on the ECBI.

Participants and Procedures

For the pediatric sample, a total of 1,526 ECBIs were completed by parents or guardians in five outpatient pediatric clinics in four northwestern states (Pullman, WA; Seattle, WA; Lewiston, ID; Missoula, MT; and Portland, OR). For the random sample, 300 children were randomly selected on the basis of sex and ethnicity (Asian, African American, and Caucasian) within each grade level for Grades 1 to 12 from the Seattle School District (a total of 3,600 parents were mailed ECBIs). A total of 1,003 completed ECBIs were returned by the parents. This return rate of 28% was similar to a return rate of 29% obtained in a second study in the Seattle School District (Bums et al., 1997). Two of the adolescents were 18 years old and these two ratings were eliminated because they were outside the age range of the ECBI (2-17). This left a total of 1,001 children and adolescents.

Characteristics of the 2,527 Children and Adolescents

The combination of the pediatric and random samples resulted in data on 2,527 children and adolescents. The sample was 52% boys and 48% girls, with an average age of 8.95 years (SD = 4.36, range 2-17). A total of 1,639 (65%) of the children were living with their biological mother and father; 464 (18%) with their mother only; 30 (1%) with their father only; 245 (10%) with their mother and stepfather; 42 (2%) with their father and stepmother; 18 (< 1%) with foster parents; and 89 (4%) with other relatives. In terms of ethnicity, 85% of the children were Caucasian, 5% African American, 4% Asian, 3% American Indian, less than 1% Hispanic, and 4% mixed ethnicity (e.g., 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 African American). A total of 2,180 (86%) ECBIs were completed by the child's mother, 255 (10%) by the child's father, and 92 (4%) by other relatives or foster parents. The average education of the person who completed the ECBI on the child was 13.91 grades (SD = 2.65). A total of 179 (7%) of the raters had not completed high school; 860 (34%) had obtained a high school degree; 626 (25%) had attended some college; 538 (21%) had obtained a college degree; and 324 (13%) had completed some graduate study. In terms of family income, 335 families (14%) reported a yearly income of less than $10,000; 391 (16%) between $10,000 and $19,999; 557 (22%) between $20,000 and $29,999; and 1,194 (48%) over $30,000. Fifty of the raters did not provide information on family income. In terms of treatment status, 2,335 (92%) of the children were not currently in treatment for learning disabilities or behavioral problems; 86 (3%) were in treatment for learning disabilities; 72 (3%) for behavioral problems; and 34 (1%) for learning and behavioral problems.

Results

Structural Organization of the ECBI

The 2,257 children were randomly separately into two samples, 1,263 in the first and 1,264 in the second. The random assignment was performed so that each sample contained an equal percentage of children from the pediatric clinics and the Seattle School District. The factor analyses were performed on the IS item ratings because the PS item ratings involved a categorical variable (i.e., a "yes" or "no" answer for each item).
EFA on Sample 1. An EFA with maximum likelihood extraction and promax (oblique) rotation was performed on the Sample 1 IS ratings. Seven eigenvalues were greater than one (11.73, 2.47, 2.07, 1.56, 1.34, 1.32, and 1.10). We examined factor solutions of two to seven factors. In the two-factor model, Factor 1 consisted of ODD and CD type items and Factor 2 ADHD type items. In the three-factor model, the first factor consisted of ODD type items, the second factor CD type items, and the third factor ADHD type items. In the four-factor model, the items with weak loadings on the first factor, the ODD factor, separated to form the fourth factor. In this four-factor model, the ADHD and CD factors emerged as Factors 2 and 3. The five-, six-, and seven-factor models primarily resulted in the fourth factor from the four-factor model dividing into smaller factors. The results from the four-factor model were considered to provide the most clinically useful dimensions. The specific reasons for this decision will be discussed after the presentation of the results from the four-factor model.
Table 1 shows the results from the four-factor model. Items with loadings greater than .29 are shown in boldface in the table. The first factor involved oppositional defiant behavior toward adults (i.e., "argues with parents about rules," "acts defiant when told to do something," "refuses to obey until threatened with punishment," "sasses adults," "refuses to do chores when asked," "gets angry when does not get own way," "does not obey house rules on own," "refuses to go to bed on time," "has temper tantrums," and "yells or screams"). Because the items "slow in getting ready for bed" and "has poor table manners" had low loadings on this factor and did not involve an oppositional defiant aspect, these two items were not included in the CFA on the second sample. The elimination of these two items resulted in a clear and strong Oppositional Defiant Behavior factor.
The second factor contained behaviors similar to the symptoms of ADHD. The four items with the highest loadings represented ADHD inattentive symptoms (i.e., "has short attention span," &