Factor analysis of the Maudsley Psychiatric Child Rating Scale: a replication study
In child and adolescent psychiatric classification two points of view play a paramount role: the medical (categoric) and the psychometric (dimensional). Both approaches have their pros and cons. In an earlier study, Thorley (1987) combined the advantage of symptom ratings made by a psychiatrist with the psychometric approach. Notwithstanding the importance of the found factor structure for clinical and research proposes, this study has never been replicated. Therefore we performed the same factor analysis of psychiatric symptoms and other statistics in a large group of Dutch patients that visited the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Hospital, Utrecht. The found factor solutions are largely identical with the results from the original study of the group of British patients but there are also some differences. With the limitations of these two studies in mind proposals for further research are made.