CBCL clinical scales discriminate ADHD youth with structured-interview derived diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association between the clinical scales of the child behavior checklist (CBCL) and the comorbid diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in a large sample of youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

METHOD: The sample consisted of 101 girls and 106 boys ages 6 to17 with ADHD. Conditional probability analysis was used to examine the correspondence between CBCL Clinical Scales with the structured-interview derived diagnosis of ODD.

RESULTS

Conditional probability analysis showed that the CBCL Aggression Scale best predicted a structured-interview derived diagnosis of ODD in boys and girls with ADHD.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that the CBCL Aggression Scale could serve as a rapid and cost-effective screening instrument to help identify cases likely to meet clinical criteria for ODD in the context of ADHD