Background: The Children's Moods, Fears and Worries Questionnaire (CMFWQ) is a recently developed parent-report measure for detecting young children's internalising difficulties. This study evaluated construct and criterion-related validity with a clinical sample.
Method: The measure was completed by 30 mothers of children aged between 18 months and 7 years referred to hospital clinical psychology services.
Results: The CMFWQ demonstrated sound convergent and discriminant validity and a clinical cut-point was established, which optimally discriminated between children with internalising problems and those within the normal range.
Conclusion: The CMFWQ has potential value for identifying young children in need of intervention for internalising problems.
Keywords: Children's Moods, Fears and Worries Questionnaire; Internalising problems; questionnaire measures.
© 2012 The Authors. Child and Adolescent Mental Health © 2012 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.