Assessment of Construct of the Parent/Teacher Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD) Rating Scale –Sinhala by Principal Component Factor Analysis (PCA)

Background: DBD cause disadvantageous outcomes for adolescents in terms of educational achievement, peer and social relations, and family relations, which hamper their potential to go on a productive life.
Objectives: To translate the Parent/ Teacher Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (P/T DBD) Rating Scale (Pelham et al, 1992) to the Sinhalese language and to assess the construct validity of the translated version among adolescents aged 11 to 17 years.
Method: The Translation / back translation method was used to translate the English DBD Rating Scale into Sinhalese. This scale is a multi-dimensional scale covering Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) 4^th version criteria for the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD). Primary caregivers of adolescents aged 11 to 17 living in the medical officer of health area of Hambantota were introduced to the P/T DBD Rating Scale –Sinhala. Factor analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20.0.
Results/ conclusions: Four-factor extractions accounted for 36.8% of the variance, whereas 12-factor extractions explained 64% of the variance in the data set. Maximum variance was explained by Factor 1 consisted of all the items in ADHD- ADHD-Hyperactivity and ODD scales. All the items in the ADHD- Inattention sub-scale were loaded into Factor 2, which accounted for 6.4% of the variance of the total sample. Items in the CD subscale were loaded into Factors 3 and 4, which altogether accounted for 9.9% variance of the total data set.