An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Beech Brook Attachment Disorder Checklist

Abstract

Although several measures that evaluate disturbance in childhood attachment exist, few have been designed to assess attachment disturbances. The Beech Brook Attachment Disorder Checklist (BBADC) is one of the most promising measures of childhood attachment disorder that has been specifically designed to assess attachment disturbances, but further validation of the BBADC is necessary. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses and Rasch analysis of the BBADC items were conducted using a sample of adopted children. Exploratory analysis revealed five factors. Items on these factors were then subjected to Rasch analysis to determine unidimensionality of each factor and further refine the factors. Next, confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the five factor solution was a better fit to the data than the original two factor solution. Individual differences in the BBADC factors were examined. Finally, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) subscales were correlated with the five factors to determine convergent and discriminant validity.