Early Childhood Inventory-4 (ECI-4)
Brief description
The Early Childhood Inventory-4 (ECI-4) measures the behavioural symptoms of the most relevant DSM-IV disorders among preschool children. The list of disorders includes ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and a range of anxiety and depressive disorders. There are both parent and teacher versions. There is close to a one-to-one correspondence between ECI-4 items and DSM-IV items for each disorder.
The ECI-4: Parent Checklist contains 108 items that screen for 15 emotional and behavioural disorders, and the ECI-4: Teacher Checklist contains 87 items that screen for 13 emotional and behavioural disorders. The ECI-4 can be scored to derive Symptom Count scores or Symptom Severity scores.
Appropriate target populations
Preschool children aged 3 to 6 years. The main validation data come from a clinical sample and not the general population.
Administration options
The ECI-4 can be administered paper-and-pencil to either the parent or teacher of the child.
Formats available
_X_ self-administered (paper-and-pencil)
___ self-administered (computer)
___ clinician-administered
Time required
10 minutes
Languages available
_X_ English
___ French
___ Other
Accessibility and cost
___ no charge for use
___ use requires permission of test developer
___ use requires special training and/or professional or academic credentials
_X_ fee for use
The ECI-4 Deluxe Kit contains the Screening Manual, the Norms Manual, 25 Parent Checklists, 25 Teacher Checklists, 50 Symptom Count score sheets (with scoring instructions, cutoff scores, and rule-out diagnoses) and 50 Symptom Severity Profile (T scores) score sheets for both Parent and Teacher Checklists for $112.00.
Where to access
Summary of test development data
Quality of reporting
High, based on STARD rating (see Appendix, p. 76).
Summary of validity and reliability data
Moderate, largely on the basis of there being only one published study examining the criterion-related validity of the measure. The data reported, however, do demonstrate excellent performance of the tool in this one sample.