The importance of social skills in development is a well studied area of research, and deficits in these skills can have implications long into adulthood. Therefore, assessment tools must be able to aid clinicians in identifying areas of weaknesses to target in treatment. The purpose of the current paper was to investigate the factor structure of…

The "Autism Spectrum Disorders-Diagnosis for Adults" ("ASD-DA") is a standardized assessment used to measure autistic symptomatology in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). In order to further establish the validity of this measure, convergent validity of the "ASD-DA" was established by comparing…

The assessment of maintaining variables with the goal of developing prosocial intervention plans has become a driving force in the intellectual disabilities (ID) literature. One particularly crucial variable is whether the behavior is low or high rate and whether the challenging behavior is best characterized by self-injury or aggression. Because…

Due to the relative inability of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to provide an accurate and reliable self-report, assessment in this population is more difficult than with individuals in the general population. As a result, assessment procedures must be adjusted to compensate for the relative lack of information that the individual…

A factor analytic study of the Behavior Problem Checklist was conducted on 259 mildly and moderately retarded (MR) adolescents and 306 non-handicapped adolescents. Results were generally in line with previous studies of normal learners. For MR Ss, factors included conduct problems, attention deficit disorders, socialized delinquency, personality…

Comparison of behavior problems reported by mothers and teachers of 44 children (ages 6 to 15) with Down syndrome and 44 controls without mental retardation indicated that the Down syndrome children had more behavior problems, in particular attention deficit, noncompliance, thought disorder, and social withdrawal. Life events were associated with…

The "Behavior Problems Inventory" (BPI) is a behavior rating instrument for self-injurious, stereotypic, and aggressive/destructive behavior in mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Evaluation with 432 residents in a developmental center found the BPI to be a reliable (retest reliability, internal consistency, and…

The Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF), a 25-item rating scale, was developed to identify the function(s) of maladaptive behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. The authors adapted it for use with individuals with serious mental illness who engage in maladaptive behavior and assessed the psychometric characteristics of the…

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…

This study represents the first to assess whether a relationship between manic symptoms and feeding/mealtime behavior problems exists in individuals with ID. Participants were compared across three groups (manic, non-manic psychiatrically impaired, and controls) on the diagnostic assessment for the severely handicapped-revised (DASH-II) and young…

The purpose of this study was to explore the interrelationship of social and adaptive skills in adults with bipolar disorder and severe or profound intellectual disability. A bipolar group (N=14), a severe psychopathology group without bipolar disorder (N=14), and a control group with no DSM-IV Axis I diagnosis (N=14) were compared on the…

A study compared the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI) for assessing the maladaptive behavior of 226 adults, mostly with severe or profound mental retardation. Individuals with elevated BPI scores generally had higher ABC scores, however, the extent of covariation differed across subscales. (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…

Social skills and levels of inappropriate assertiveness/impulsiveness were assessed using the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters, with 17 autistic children (ages 2-21) and 17 matched nonautistic children. Significant differences in both appropriate and inappropriate social behaviors were found. Results suggest the importance of…