This study describes the development of the Active Treatment Client Rights checklist (ATCR), which was designed to facilitate the assessment, monitoring, and implementation of readily observable client active treatment services for adults with developmental disabilities. The ATCR was found to be highly reliable, valid, and useful in enhancing…

Evaluation of the reliability of 7 measures assessing social cognitive variables hypothesized to define social intelligence, with a total of 125 adolescents with mental retardation, found high to very high interrater reliability coefficients; moderate to very high internal reliabilities; and moderate to high test-retest reliabilities. (Author/DB)

The Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults--Sexuality Scale was developed and used to study 86 adults with mild/moderate mental retardation. Psychometric characteristics were favorable. Differences in the rate of sexually aberrant behavior are addressed as a function of living and work placement, positive history of sexual abuse,…

This study evaluated the reliability of the Child Behavior Checklist with 42 children and youth with mild mental retardation. Use of kappa coefficients and intra-class correlations at item and syndrome levels indicated that the Child Behavior Checklist may not always represent a reliable checklist for the assessment of psychopathology in this…

A protocol for screening the complex verbal, simple verbal, simple visual, and spatial working memory was tested on 125 persons with mild, moderate, and severe mental retardation. Results found the test discriminated well between levels of mental retardation, correlated reasonably well with IQ, and possessed relatively good test-retest…

The psychometric properties of the Motivation Assessment Scale were examined using 90 ratings of different problem behaviors among 86 individuals with mental retardation. Although reliability and internal consistency were generally poor, the results depended upon topographies of problem behavior and methods of calculation. The construct validity…

Data from the experimental functional analysis of challenging behaviors of 27 individuals with mental retardation were analyzed to assess agreement among three forms of interpretation. Results found that the methods of interpreting function from experimental assessment can give different results and that test-retest reliability of the experimental…

A study involving 570 individuals with mental retardation developed the Screening Tool of Feeding Problems, an assessment designed to identify feeding problems presented by persons with mental retardation, and thus facilitate the process of identifying who would benefit from some type of behavioral or medical intervention. Psychometric data are…

Eighteen adolescents and adults with severe/profound intellectual disability were rated by two staff members using the Motivation Assessment Scale to identify variables maintaining their aggressive behaviors. Analysis of interrater reliability indicated that for some individuals the scale may not represent a feasible alternative to more formal…

A study of 233 individuals with severe mental retardation examined the validity of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II) through correlation with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC). DASH-II as a whole was found to have a high degree of convergent validity with the ABC total score. (CR)

A study involving 512 staff serving individuals with mental retardation investigated the validity of the 33-item Staff Stressor Questionnaire (SSQ). The SSQ measures potential stressors, including user challenging behavior, poor user skills, lack of staff support, lack of resources, low-status job, bureaucracy, and work/home conflict. Results show…

A study tested the validity of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II) for determining the presence of mania (bipolar disorder) in 22 individuals with severe mental retardation. Results found the mania subscale to be internally consistent and able to be used to classify manic and control subjects accurately. (Author/CR)

A study involving 200 adults with mental retardation investigated the interrater reliability and internal consistency of the Matson Evaluation of Drug Side Effects (MEDS), a scale designed to evaluate commonly identified side effects with a psychometrically sound checklist. The MEDS had excellent consistency across raters and good internal…

This study compared fears and social anxiety in children with (n=57)and without (n=25) developmental disabilities, using self-ratings and parent ratings. Children without disabilities showed significantly higher consistency over time than children with disabilities. Correlations between parent and child ratings were fair to good. (DB)

A study tested the psychometric properties of the Stereotyped Behavior Scale, an empirically developed behavior rating scale for adolescents and adults with mental retardation. Forty-five adults with mental retardation and various rates of stereotypies participated. Results found the scale had high rates of reliability, validity, and interrater…