Abstract

In this study, 8 competing general psychopathology factor models from previous studies were compared and analyzed using the confirmatory factor analysis method in order to test the factor structure of general psychopathology and The Child Behavior Checklist-dysregulation profile for children from child welfare facilities. The general psychopathology factor models were limited to one-factor, 2-factor, and 3-factor models. The goodness-of-fit levels for each of these models was significantly lowered; however, among them, the bifactor model showed the best goodness-of-fit. When examining whether the specific and general factors of general psychopathology (GP) and dysregulation profile (DP) in the selected bifactor models may significantly predict the negative psychological factors among children, it was found that GP and DP were more closely related to attention, hostility, impulsivity, depression, and anxiety in children with mental disorder(s) in child welfare facilities. Further, the level of influence of the specific factors of GP and DP varied with the child's negative psychological factors. The attention problem, which was included only in DP, showed a particularly close relationship with maladaptation for children. Since DP predicted children’s maladaptation more significantly and diversely than GP, DP may be regarded as an efficient diagnostic indicator for predicting child psychopathology. Based on the above results, the purpose and limitations of this study, as well as the direction for future studies, are discussed within the manuscript.