Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Behavior Checklist/4–18.

Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the 2-factor 2nd-order structure of T. M. Achenbach's (1991) Child Behavior Checklist in a sample of 577 children who had been identified as having serious emotional disturbance. An alternative 1-factor 2nd-order model also was tested. Results supported T. M. Achenbach's model in which the broadband Internalizing factor was represented by the narrowband Withdrawn, Somatic, and Anxious/Depressed syndromes, and the broadband Externalizing factor was represented by the narrowband Delinquent and Aggressive syndromes. Consistent with T.M. Achenbach's model, the remaining narrowband syndromes (i.e., Social, Thought, Attention) loaded equally on both broadband factors and should not be included in scoring either Internalizing or Externalizing. Fit of the 1-factor model also was good and only slightly poorer than the 2-factor model. Therefore, an overall score would be appropriate as a measure of global problem behavior.