E-ISSN : 2733-4538
This study was designed to investigate the typology of problem patterns which were manifested by disturbed children and adolescents, on the basis of empirical analysis of profiles of the Korean Personality Inventory for Children (KPI-C). The KPI-C is a multidimensional inventory that measures development, affect, behavior, and interpersonal relationship of children. The KPI-C is completed by parents and consists of 16 scales which are made up of 255 items. The samples of this study included 326 children and adolescents, aged 4-15, was referred for various emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems. A cluster analysis was done with scores from Ego Resilience scale and 11 clinical scales(Verbal Development, Psychomotor Development, Anxiety, Depression, Somatization, Delinquency, Hyperactivity, Family Relations, Social Relations, Psychosis, Autism). Cluster centroids were obtained by hierarchical clustering procedure. Using this centroids as seed points, K-means cluster analysis was done to derive clusters. Six profile types were identified, which classified 93.6% of the sample. Profile type 1 represented diffuse, mixed pathology. Profile type 2 suggested behavioral problems with negative effects on adjustment. Profile type 3 implied the presence of moderate problems among these children or defensive attitude among parents of these children. Profile type 4 reflected internalizing emotional problems. Profile type 5 suggested depressive mood and interpersonal relationship problems. Profile type 6 showed developmental problems with various other problems. It is expected that results of this study could be used as fundamental data in interpreting the KPI-C obtained from clinical settings. Further studies are needed to compare the results of this study with the KPI-C profiles of nonclinical samples and to examine relationship between the KPI-C profile types with various external criteria.