Parents of 601 children and adolescents with mental retardation rated their children on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC). Factor analysis revealed a factor structure similar to the original ABC but without the inappropriate speech factor. Analysis of subject variables revealed main effects for gender, age, and classroom assignment…

Scores from the Child Behavior Checklist and the Client Development Evaluation Report for 67 children and adolescents with mental retardation were examined to evaluate the factorial validity of the instruments. Results found that both instruments were successful in measuring maladaptive behaviors and both yielded two-dimensional representations of…

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…

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…

The Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior, an instrument used to identify persons with both mental retardation and mental health problems, was evaluated with 89 Dutch adults having mental retardation. Reliability and validity of the scale and relationships with subject characteristics were examined. (Author/DB)

This study compared responses to a survey on critical social behaviors completed by 79 persons who had prior experience with employees with mental retardation and 59 persons without such experience. Findings revealed that prior experience did not appear to affect ratings though other factors, such as knowing the purpose of the survey, did…

A study used the Questions about Behavior Function Scale to examine the functions of five severe problem behaviors (self-injurious behavior, aggression, stereotypies, pica, and rumination) in 417 institutionalized persons with mental retardation. The most common function for all behaviors except aggression was nonsocial. Aggression was maintained…

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 applicability of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) (in the informant-rating version) to mentally retarded adults was evaluated with 798 individuals. Evaluation of internal consistency, interrater reliability, factor analysis, and effects of age, sex, and degree of mental retardation indicated that the CDI is suitable as a diagnostic…

Teachers completed the Connors' Teacher Rating Scale on 100 boys (ages 6-8) who either had attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mental retardation, both ADHD and mental retardation, or no disability. Children with mental retardation were generally more anxious than normal peers, but there were few differences between the normal IQ ADHD…

A study involving 58 adults with mental retardation and mental disorders found few correlations between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Assessment of Dual Diagnosis (ADD). The major exception was the Mania scale of the MMPI, which correlated moderately well with the ADD Schizophrenia and Dementia scales. (Contains…

This article describes a method of assessing individuals with mental retardation that operates within financial and human constraints using informant-based measures that assess adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, psychiatric disorders, behavior function, and medication side-effects. Integrating the assessment results for treatment planning is…

Evaluation of the factor validity and reliability of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (Japanese version) with 322 subjects (mean age 30) with moderate to profound mental retardation found most items loading on the same factors as in the original factor solution, high coefficient alphas across 5 subscales, high test-retest reliability, and…

This study delineated procedures for cross-cultural adaptation and operationalization of adaptive behavior in individuals with mental retardation, culturally adapted the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, and investigated the validity of the resulting instrument. The study concluded that the domain of adaptive behavior can be successfully applied…