This study was aimed at comparing the results of a group open procedure and a structured individual procedure to evaluate child behavior according to the mother's report. Participants were 29 mothers who searched attendance for their children at a mental health unit for children and youngsters. The first 15 mothers to enroll in the study underwent an individual, structured interview, developed from the CBCL items, and then they underwent a group open interview. The next 14 mother to enroll underwent the open group interview and then the individual structured interview. The results obtained were compared taking into consideration the 67 behavioral categories identified from the individual report and four contextual variables from the two procedures. The results show that a substantially higher number of problematic behaviors was identified through the structured individual interview than through the open group interview held with the same informants. It is possible that the use of a structured report in group interviews may offer more information with the optimization of the evaluation time.
triage; group interview; individual interview; child mental health
