Early detection of psychosocial problems in adolescents: how useful is the Dutch short indicative questionnaire (KIVPA)?

BACKGROUND

Psychosocial problems, such as behavioural, emotional, and educational problems, are highly prevalent among children and adolescents. Early treatment may reduce these problems, if accurately identified. Validated questionnaires may support identification. The aim of this study is to assess the psychometric qualities of such a questionnaire, the Short Indicative Questionnaire for Psychosocial problems among Adolescents (KIVPA,) and to determine whether it is suitable for and adds to the early detection of psychosocial problems among adolescents.

METHODS

Data came from a national sample of 1,440 Dutch adolescents, using the KIVPA, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR). Of these, 1,248 provided data on all questionnaires (77.8%). The scale structure of the KIVPA was assessed; its sensitivity and specificity using CBCL, YSR and referral for psychosocial problems as criteria; and its contribution to detecting CBCL and YSR problems.

RESULTS

The KIVPA is mostly uni-dimensional but the variance explained by its main factor is relatively low. The total KIVPA score discriminates between adolescents with and without problems on the three criteria. Using a clinical YSR total problem score as criterion, sensitivity and specificity are 0.82 and 0.85, respectively, at the proposed cut-off (area under the ROC curve: 0.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.90-0.95). The odds ratio of a clinical YSR score for an elevated KIVPA score is 29.1 (95% CI: 14.4-59.1), although the KIVPA mainly covers internalizing problems.

CONCLUSION

The KIVPA has added value in the early detection of internalizing psychosocial problems, but is not sufficiently efficient.