Background:

Social-emotional and behavioral problems experienced in childhood are related to developing disorders in adulthood, negatively impacting relationships with their families and peers. Early detection of these difficulties contributes to ensuring healthy child development. The Baby Pediatric Symptom Checklist (BPSC) is an easy and reliable screening tool to identify social-emotional and behavioral problems in 1-18-month-old children.

Objectives:

This study aims to translate, adapt and validate the BPSC to the European Portuguese context and analyze sociodemographic differences.

Methodology:

A quantitative, cross-sectional, and instrumental study was conducted on 185 Portuguese parents of 1-18-month-old children. Data were collected using a self-applied questionnaire and subject to confirmatory factor analysis.

Results:

In the Portuguese version, the fit indices of the original three-factor measure presented adequate values ((2/df =1.83, IFI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.91, AIC = 147.29).

Conclusion:

This Portuguese translation can be used in 1-18-month-old children in Portugal, with good diagnostic accuracy in assessing children’s social-emotional adjustment.

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