Ratings scales are a common component of many multisource, multimethod frameworks for socioemotional and behavior assessment of children. There is a modest literature base to support the use of attitudinal, behavioral, and personality rating scales. Much of that historic literature focuses on the characteristics and interpretations of specific…

Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) is a method of social--emotional and behavior assessment that combines the immediacy of systematic direct observation and the efficiency of behavior rating scales. The purpose of this article is to discuss the defensibility and usability of DBR. This article provides a brief summary of (a) the past, present, and future…

A methodology was described for operationalizing the terms "occasionally" and "frequently" on the Maladaptive Behavior Scale developed from the American Association of Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale. Numerical definitions were devised from modal ratings of staff members of 28 rehabilitation agencies. (Author/DB)

Individuals with developmental disability (n=400) were assessed with the "Dyskinesia Identification System: Condensed User Scale" (DISCUS), a 15-item tardive dyskinesia rating scale shortened from the "Dyskinesia Identification System-Coldwater." Based on interrater reliability, 2-week stability, and other analyses, DISCUS is…

The Social Strategy Rating Scale, which measures social competence in young children with disabilities across multiple contexts, was completed with 47 toddlers in 3 social settings over a 16-month period. The scale exhibited relatively high interobserver agreement across items, high internal consistency, and sensitivity to skill changes over time.…

The Behavior Summarized Evaluation (BSE) measures changes in behavioral parameters in autistic children over time and treatments. Tests of reliability and validity suggest that the BSE is an acceptable tool for the assessment of autistic behaviors, is easy to handle, and is accessible to both professional and paraprofessional medicoeducative…

Seventeen rating scales to assess parent-infant interactions are reviewed. A table provides identifying information, descriptive information, and psychometric qualities. Discussion includes implications for practice in the assessment of infants with disabilities and directions for future research. (Author/DB)

This column demonstrates how behavior rating scales or checklists are an inexpensive and potentially useful source of information. It shows how to make use of likelihood ratios to assess the likelihood of PBD in an individual case. Likelihood ratios are valuable because they may enable a clinician to take a legitimate shortcut and use an easier to…

The author reviews the goal setting and action planning stages of the management by objectives process in employee performance appraisal, and discusses behaviorally anchored rating scales to describe job-specific behaviors associated with getting results with personnel who need more help in raising individual and organizational effectiveness. (MF)

The Co-worker Involvement Instrument measures involvement with supported employees with disabilities, via items pertaining to physical integration, social integration, vocational integration, training, associating frequency, associating nature, befriending, advocating, evaluating, and information giving. The instrument was found to be a reliable…

Parent and teacher ratings on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist with an outpatient sample of 110 children, adolescents, and young adults with mental retardation found that the 5-factor structure of both parent and teacher data corresponded very well with the 5 factors originally obtained from staff ratings of mentally retarded inpatients. (Author/DB)

The Behaviors of Eating and Activity for Children's Health Evaluation System (BEACHES) codes direct observations of children's dietary and physical activity behaviors and associated environmental events, including physical location, antecedents, and consequences. The system's reliability and validity was assessed in a study of 42 children (ages…

The Student Descriptor Scale (SDS) was developed as a validation measure to determine whether students described and counted by states as "severely handicapped" were, indeed, students with severe disabilities. The SDS addresses nine characteristics: intellectual disability, health impairment, need for toileting assistance, upper torso motor…

This study reports on the standardization of the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. Data collected on 2,266 typical students (ages 5- 18) and 1,371 students with emotional disturbances led to the identification of six behavioral problem factors that correspond to the federal definition of emotional disturbance and were highly internally…

This article reviews the literature on using behavior-rating scales to assess the mental health of children from different ethnic groups in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on children referred to child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Differences between categorical and dimensional classification, as well as broadband versus…