Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale

Reliability and Validity Study

SEEKING INTERVIEWERS!

The Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) is an individually administered standardized measure of adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior is defined as the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that have been learned and are performed by people in their everyday lives (Schalock et al., 2010). The DABS is composed of 75 items, broken up into the primary domains of adaptive behavior (conceptual, social, and practical skills). Typical administration time is between 20-30 minutes. The DABS was developed to be administered via interview to the parent, caregiver, teacher, or other respondent who knows the person whose adaptive behavior is being assessed. The current study entails collecting data on the reliability and validity of the DABS.

Criteria for Participation

Interviewers

You are qualified to be a DABS interviewer if you are a professional who has completed at least a Bachelor’s degree, has several years of direct work experience with people with an intellectual disability or related developmental disability, and has previous assessment experience (e.g., case manager, psychologist, social worker, teacher, graduate student, etc.).

Assessed Individuals

The assessed individual is the person whose adaptive behavior is being rated by the DABS. Assessed individuals should be between 4 and 21 years old (inclusive), and should have an approximate IQ ranging from 55 – 80. These individuals MAY NOT serve as their own respondents (i.e. rate their own adaptive behavior) for the DABS interview. If possible, we also hope to attain historical IQ data on the assessed individual. For individuals 4-12 years old, the IQ test must have been completed within the past year. For individuals 13-21, the IQ test only needs to have been completed within the past 2 years.

Respondents

The respondent providing the information for completing the DABS should know the individual very well and have had the opportunity to observe this person on a daily or weekly basis, preferably in a variety of settings, and over an extended period of time. Respondents should be adults and may be selected from family members, friends, teachers, employers/colleagues, or direct support workers. The individual whose adaptive behavior is being assessed is NOT considered an appropriate respondent (i.e., no self-report). Ratings should be based on the respondent’s direct observation and knowledge of the adaptive behavior of the individual being assessed.

Incentives

Serving as a DABS interviewer for this study is an opportunity to preview the final version of the DABS before it is published. We will be sending a brief report for each interview, complete with a composite scale score, as well as subscale scores. These results should be interpreted with caution, however, as the current study is the first to examine reliability/validity of this instrument.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT US:
Suzanne Davis - DABS Project
The Ohio State University Nisonger Center
McCampbell Hall Suite 357
1581 Dodd Drive, Columbus, OH 43210

Telephone: 614-685-3195
Email: suzanne.davis3@osumc.edu