The Behavior Assessment System for Children 2nd Edition (BASC-2) Overview: Authors Publisher Website Cecil R.

. Reynolds and Randy W. Kamphaus AGS Publishing http://pearsonassess.ca/haiweb/Cultures/enCA/Products/Product+Detail.htm?CS_ProductID=BASC-2&CS_Category=psychologicalbehaviour&CS_Catalog=TPC-CACatalog BASC-2 Hand Scoring Starter Set - $663.00, BASC-2 ASSIST Starter Kit - $864.00 Teacher Rating Scales (TRS) Self-Report of Personality (SRP) Parent Rating Scales (PRS) Structured Developmental History (SDH) Student Observation System (SOS) Paper and pencil ASSIST/ASSIST Plus software, hand-scoring Level C

Costs Forms (available in English and Spanish) Administration Format Scoring Options Qualifications

Purpose and Uses: Provides a triangulated view of a childs behavioral problems by (1) examining behavior in multiple settings; (2) evaluating the childs emotions, personality, and self-perceptions; and (3) providing background information useful when making educational classifications or clinical diagnoses Facilitates the differential diagnosis and educational classification of various emotional and behavioral disorders Aids in the design of treatment plans, individual educational plans (IEPs), and family service plans (FSPs) Helpful in the manifestation determination process (process for determining the origin of behavior) Assessment of individuals with limitations of hearing and vision Repeated use of the BASC-2 can help in identifying a childs progress in specific programs Useful for research on childhood psychopathology and behavior disorders Theoretical/Conceptual Basis: Emotional and behavioral difficulties have various components and therefore, must be evaluated from different viewpoints. Consequently, the integrated assessment approach of the BASC-2 can be beneficial to clinicians. The use of an integrated assessment system (e.g., TRS, PRS, and SRP) helps to decrease the threats to validity that would occur if only a single type of assessment were used. Additionally, multiple BASC-2 components address a large number of areas that are essential in assessment. When all BASC-2 components have been collected (along with a clinical interview and a review of school/clinic records and histories), the clinician will have the information required for a comprehensive assessment of behavior, personality, and context. Key Features of the TRS and PRS: Composite Scales Measured: Adaptive Skills, Behavioral Symptoms Index, Externalizing Problems, Internalizing Problems, and School Problems (TRS only) Primary Scales Measured: Adaptability, Activities of Daily Living (PRS only), Aggression, Anxiety, Attention Problems, Atypicality, Conduct Problems, Depression, Functional Communication, Hyperactivity, Leadership, Learning Problems (TRS only), Social Skills, Somatization, Study Skills (TRS only), and Withdrawal Optional Content Scales Measured: Anger Control, Bullying, Developmental Social Disorders, Emotional Self-Control, Executive Functioning, Negative Emotionality, and Resiliency Teacher Rating Scale (TRS): Sixth grade reading level; three forms with items targeted at three age levels: preschool (2 -5), child (6-11), and adolescent (12-21); 10-15 minutes to complete. Parent Rating Scales (PRS): Fourth grade reading level; three forms with items targeted at three age levels: preschool (2 -5), child (6-11), and adolescent (12-21); 10-20 minutes to complete. Key Features of the SRP: Composite Scales Measured: Emotional Symptoms Index, Inattention/Hyperactivity, Internalizing Problems, Personal Adjustment, and School Problems Primary Scales Measured: Alcohol Abuse, Anxiety, Attention Problems, Attitude to School, Attitude to Teachers, Atypicality, Depression, Hyperactivity, Interpersonal Relations, Locus of Control, Relations with Parents, School Adjustment, Self-Esteem, SelfReliance, Sensation Seeking, Sense of Inadequacy, Social Stress, and Somatization Optional Content Scales Measured: Anger Control, Ego Strength, Mania, and Test Anxiety Self-Report of Personality (SRP): Third grade reading level; three forms with items targeted at three age levels: child (6-11), adolescent (12-21), and young adults attending postsecondary school (18-25); 20-30 minutes to complete. Administration and Scoring: Steps in Administration: 1) Select the rater, 2) Establish rapport, 3) Give instructions, 4) Rater completes the appropriate record form, and 5) Check the completed form for omitted or multiple responses. Scoring: TRS and PRS: respondent rates descriptors of behaviors on a four-point scale of frequency (ranging from Never to Almost Always) SRP: some of the items require a True or False response while others require rating on a four-point scale of frequency (ranging from Never to Almost Always) Total raw scores for each scale are converted into normative scores (T scores and percentiles) Each rating-scale and self-report forms offers a choice of either General or Clinical norm samples with combined-sex and separate-sex norms available for each norm sample

ASSIST software generates profiles, calculates validity indexes, identifies strengths and weaknesses, computes multi-rater comparisons and progress reports, provides reports on all the optional content scales, targets behaviors for intervention, describes relationships for the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria

Interpretation of the BASC-2: Classification

T-Score Range

Clinical scales scores = Risk! Adaptive Scales Clinical Scales Very High Clinically Significant 70 and above High At-Risk 60-69 Average Average 41-59 Adaptive scales scores = Risk! At Risk Low 31-40 Clinically Significant Very Low 30 and below Step 1. Interpreting composite scores: Composite scores are valuable indicators of a childs general behaviour psychopathology and functional impairment. Consistency and inconsistencies among scores may be indicative of more pervasive or specific disorders. Step 2. Interpreting scales scores: The recognizable content of many scales assists in making their interpretation intuitive. Clinically significant and at-risk T scores should be noted, and compared to the composite scale which they belong. It is also crucial to examine individual items, especially critical items. Step 3. Interpreting items: Interpreting individual items, especially critical items, requires clinical judgment and corroboration across raters and assessment methods, consideration of the childs history, and the context of the referral. Technical Characteristics: Assessing Validity Indexes Brief description F Index fake bad Detects negative response fashions L Index fake good Detects positive response fashions V Index Detects invalid responses due to poor reading comprehension and/ failure to follow instructions Response Pattern Index Detects invalid responses due to inattention to item content Consistency Index Detects differencing responses to items that should be answered similarly Omitted items: A maximum of 2 unscorable (omitted or multiple marked) items are allowed per scale. 3 or more unscorable items will invalidate that scale and composite scale score. Clinical Applications of the BASC-2: Appropriate for use in residential settings, schools, clinics, or in legal or forensic settings (may be used to determine admissibility of expert testimony from test results). The BASC-2 is considered more of a screening scale, as it lacks the precision of the individual scales for pinpointing definite psychopathologies or behavioural strengths. However, the composite scores are helpful for summarizing performance and generating broad conclusions based on different types of adaptive and maladaptive behaviour that may facilitate further examination as well as strength based recommendations. The scales assess a variety of symptoms noted in the DSM-IV-TR, allowing the clinician to possibly distinguish between specific disorders and more general disorders (e.g. conduct disorder vs. social maladjustment). Strengths Information from multiple sources can be compared Software allows clinicians to generate progress reports, multirater reports, and DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria Numerous validity checks help the clinician detect indifferent or untruthful responding Scales and composites have high internal consistency and high test-retest reliability Scales are highly interpretable, and were developed from theory and empirical data Content scales are available to further examine primary scales. Examples of content scales include executive functioning, resiliency, mania, test anxiety (etc.) Easy to administer and score Weaknesses Failure to have similar scales in all 3 measures Only offered in English and Spanish The clinical and normative sample are based on American norms Little information is provided about the norm group for 18 to 25 year olds for the SRP

Recommendations/Caveats: Academic difficulties are often associated with behaviour problems, and therefore, a holistic approach must be utilized for school psychologists to understand the complexities of the childs behaviour and create sound strength based recommendations. The BASC-2 can be extremely valuable in the assessment of child behaviour problems in generating broad conclusions regarding adaptive and maladaptive behaviour. However, the results from the BASC-2 need to be interpreted with caution as it is based upon teacher, parent, and self reflections, furthermore, narrow samples of behaviour from individual items may not be reliable indicators of broad behaviour dimensions for all children.
References: Reynolds, C.R., & Kamphaus, R.W. (2004). Behavior Assessment System for Children Second Edition manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Dowdy, E., Chin, J. K., Twyford, J. M., & Dever, B.V. (2011). A factor analytic investigation of the BASC-2 behavioral and emotional screening system parent form: Psychometric properties, practical implication, and future directions. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 265-280. Doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2011.03.005