© 2010 Informa UK Ltd. (Informa Healthcare, Taylor & Francis As) DOI: 10.3109/08039480903514443 The Autism—Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) telephone interview: Convergence with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) SARA LINA HANSSON HALLERÖD, TOMAS LARSON, OLA STÅHLBERG, EVA CARLSTRÖM, CARINA GILLBERG, HENRIK ANCKARSÄTER, MARIA RÅSTAM, PAUL LICHTENSTEIN, CHRISTOPHER GILLBERG Hansson Halleröd SL, Larson T, Ståhlberg O, Carlström E, Gillberg C, Anckarsäter H, Råstam M, Lichtenstein P, Gillberg C. The Autism—Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) telephone interview: convergence with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Nord J Psychiatry 2010;64:218–224. Objective: To compare telephone interview screening for child psychiatric/neuropsychiatric disorders using the inventory of Autism—Tics, Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) with results from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Background: The A-TAC is a parent telephone interview focusing on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and co-existing problems, developed for lay interviewers. Subjects and methods: A-TAC telephone interviews and CBCL questionnaires were obtained from parents of 106 Swedish twin pairs aged 9 and 12 years. Results: Correlations between A-TAC modules and CBCL scales aimed at measuring similar concepts were generally significant albeit modest, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.30 through 0.55. Conclusion: The A-TAC has convergent validity with the CBCL in several problem areas, but the A-TAC also provides more detailed and specific assessments of ASD symptoms and related neuropsychiatric problems. • AD/HD, Autism, Child psychiatry, Screening, Validity. Tomas Larson, M.Sc., Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Sege Park 8A, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden, E-mail: Tomas.Larson@med.lu.se; Accepted 20 November 2009. T he Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is based on empirical studies of items reflecting common psychi- atric or behavioural problems in children and adolescents (1). Norm data are available from large population sam- ples. The instrument has also been tested among clini- cally referred children and found to be useful both in clinical evaluations and in research on child and adoles- cent mental health problems. It was not originally devel- oped to generate diagnostic information (2), but excellent convergence has been reported between the CBCL sub- scale for attention problems and clinically diagnosed DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), between the delinquent behaviour subscale and conduct disorder, and between the anxious/depressed subscale and anxiety disorder (3). Kazdin & Heidish (4) found high sensitivity but relatively low specificity for identifying depression and conduct disorder. When compared with ICD-10 diagnoses, the CBCL separated the disruptive behaviour disorder group (conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and hyperkinetic disorder), but not emo- tional disturbance (anxiety and mood disorders), from other disorders (5). In a Brazilian study, the CBCL thought problems subscale and a non-standardized factor called autistic/bizarre identified children with autism in both clinical and school settings (6). In another study, the CBCL withdrawn subscale distinguished children with autism from those without, although the specificity was fairly poor (7). Six DSM-IV-oriented subscales for affective problems, anxiety problems, somatic problems, AD/HD problems, oppositional defiant problems and conduct problems have been constructed from CBCL items rated by psychiatrists and psychologists as very consistent with DSM-IV diag- nostic categories in a new version of the instrument, published in 2001 (1). A DSM-oriented pervasive devel- opmental problems scale has also been constructed, but Nord J Psychiatry Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Lunds Universitet on 05/12/13 For personal use only.