Using Assessments in Practice

1
Using Assessments in Practice

• Case Methods

2
Reasons to use assessments

• Managed care
• Knowing your own effectiveness
• Helping clients to see progress
• To show evidence-based approach

3
Considerations with assessment

• Validity
• Reliability
• Take several snapshots from different
  perspectives
• Interpretation
• Specialize or Generalize?

4
Where to find assessments

• Handbooks
• Journal articles
• Books/Manuals

5
Common Assessments

• WISC-4 (Intelligence)
• Ages 6-16 years old
• Subscales
• Verbal comprehension index
• Perceptual organization index
• Working memory
• Process speed
• Full scale
• Reliability
• Subscale ranges from .88 PSI to .97 FS
• Validity
• Strong correlations between 4th ed and previous
  versions as well as other assessments
• Also reports strong construct validity

6
Common Assessments

• Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales
• Birth-18 years and low-functioning adults
• Subscales
• Communication
• Daily living skills
• Socialization
• Motor skills
• Reliability
• Split-half test-retest range from .83 for the
  Motor Skills domain to .94 for the Composite
• Validity
• Compared to similar tests, correlations are
  moderate

7
Common Assessments

• Childrens Depression Inventory
• Ages 7-17 years
• 27 items
• Subscales
• Negative mood
• Interpersonal problems
• Ineffectiveness
• Anhedonia
• Negative Self Esteem
• Reliability
• Internal consistency ranges from .71 to .89
• Test-retest ok
• Validity
• More research needed
• Generally accepted to be valid

8
Common Assessments

• Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children
• 8-19 years
• Factors/Subscales
• Physical symptoms
• Tense/restless
• Somatic/autonomic
• Social anxiety
• Humiliation/rejection
• Public performance fears
• Harm avoidance
• Perfectionism
• Anxious coping
• Separation anxiety
• Reliability
• Reports show good reliability (cant find
  numbers)
• Validity
• Good discrimination