(PS8-B47) Suitability of Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory Items for Toddler Populations: Qualitative Reports from Experts

The Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999) is a caregiver report measure of child behavior problems for children aged 2-16 years and is heavily used as an outcome measure in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT; Eyberg & Funderburk, 2011). With recent adaptations of PCIT for children younger than 2 years, such as PCIT-Toddler (Girard et al., 2018) and Infant Behavior Program (Bagner et al., 2013), there is a need to adapt the ECBI to be developmentally appropriate for toddler-aged children. This study examined qualitative reports on the appropriateness of the ECBI items for toddlers aged 12 to 24 months. Experts in working with toddler-aged children and their families in clinical and/or research settings were asked to rate how appropriate each ECBI item was for toddlers with both quantitative and qualitative response options per item. Chosen experts worked in a lab or clinic that provides services (e.g., PCIT) to toddler-aged children. Twenty-one experts completed the online survey (91.3% response rate). Experts deemed that 12 of the 36 items on the ECBI were appropriate for toddlers without modification to the item and that 14 of the 36 items were fully inappropriate for this age range. Experts were split on remaining items of the ECBI with some believing that the item is appropriate and others deeming it inappropriate. Reasons for rating an item as appropriate were that the items described a behavior that is both typical and considered disruptive for 12–24-month-olds. Reasons for rating an item as inappropriate included that the behavior is not indicative of behavior problems for this age group or that toddlers do not have the ability to control the behavior (i.e., item is not developmentally appropriate). For items where there was disagreement about the appropriateness, unique themes were described, such as the item needed a wording change to be appropriate and that the item had different levels of appropriateness across the 12 to 24-month age range. Results from this qualitative exploration provide insight on potential items to remove for an adaptation of the ECBI for toddler-aged children.