Measuring children's mental health functioning: Confirmatory factor analysis of a multidimensional measure

As mental health systems respond to policy definitions of serious emotional disturbance and the need to prioritize and evaluate mental health services, there is an increasing need far multidimensional measures of children's mental health functioning. The Colorado Client Assessment Record (CCAR) is one of two multidimensional measures currently in use in state systems. The validity of the dimensional structure of the CCAR was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of child mental health service recipients. The nine-dimension conceptual model that undergirds the CCAR was found to fit the data well.