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Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale (CADS)

The CADS is measured within a 57-item questionnaire that measures dispositional traits, particularly prosociability, negative emotionality and daring dimensions of disposition. These specific dimensions are theoretically relevant to conduct disorder and oppositional deviant disorder. However, the CADS is only a 48-item questionnaire, which is embedded within our 57 items.

Measures citation:

  • Lahey, B., Applegate, B., Chronis, A., Jones, H., Williams, S.H., Loney, J., & Waldman, I. (2008). Psychometric Characteristics of a Measure of Emotional Dispositions Developed to Test a Developmental Propensity Model of Conduct Disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 794-807.

Citation for self-report factor structure:

  • Lahey, B.B., Rathouz, P.J., Applegate, B., Tackett, J.L., & Waldman, I.D. (2010). Psychometrics of a Self-Report Version of the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39, 351-361.

Participants were ask to rate each item on how the description best describes them. Responses were 'Not at all”, 'Just a little”, 'Pretty much / pretty often” and 'Very much / very often”. The scale was developed to measure specific dimensions of personality or disposition, namely prosociability, negative emotionality and daring dimensions; items for these subscales are provided in the Stata code. The following items do not form any of the subscales but were used in the validation study and will be included if item-level data is requested: 1, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 35, 38, 39, 40. It is likely that most of these items reflect aspects of 'psychopathy” that are correlated with all three dimensions. Items 51-57 were added to the scale after validation to attempt to create a positive emotions scale. It is not yet clear if they are a valid measure of the construct. These items will be available if item-level data is requested.