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…

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 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 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 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…

This study reports on the development and assessment of the psychometric properties of three measures to assess sexual knowledge, experience, feelings, and needs. Results demonstrate the good psychometric properties of the scales and their suitability for assessing these areas in people with disabilities. (Author/CR)

The validity of the schizophrenia subscale of the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults (PIMRA) was evaluated with 65 adults having mild to moderate mental retardation as well as either schizophrenia, depression, or no psychopathology. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted, as were interrater reliability analyses.…

This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Environmental Rating Scale, a measure specifically designed to assess residential treatment programs for individuals with autism. The measure's reliability was demonstrated by assessments of the internal consistency, stability, and interrater reliability. Preliminary analysis of validity…

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…

To assess the psychometric characteristics of the Verbal Behavior Assessment Scale, the 15-item questionnaire was administered to pairs of caregivers of 115 individuals with developmental disabilities. Exploratory factor analysis involving 11 more participants revealed evidence concerning the distinction of three different communicative functions…

This article investigates cognitive decline and depressive symptomatology among older adults with mental retardation. A pilot study of assessment instruments is reported. Findings reveal that decreasing cognitive ability is associated with higher rates of observed depression and reported behavioral problems. Cognitive decline was associated with…

This study compared psychometric results on the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II for 187 children and adolescents with mental retardation and 372 intellectually average students. The schedule demonstrated sound psychometric properties for both samples. Mentally retarded subjects scored significantly higher than the comparison sample, and their…

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…