Title:
An investigation of the validity of the Behavior Checklist: normative data for a non-clinical community residential sample of adults with mental retardation
Author:
Kristin A. Droppa
Committee Member:
Faith Gilroy
Committee Member:
James Tolan
Committee Member:
Martin Sherman
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2006
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
reformatted digital
Abstract:
The development of psychometrically sound instruments for assessing dual diagnosis is a rigorous process. Tolan, Tolan, and Green (1998) developed the Behavior Checklist (BC) as a means of quantifying emotional and behavioral adjustment in individuals with developmental disorders across all levels of mental retardation. The BC consists of 124 items, and employs third-party frequency ratings of behaviors, which are divided into twelve subscales, or domains. Each domain represents a separate emotional/behavioral construct. This study evaluated the construct validity of each of the BC domains by using a non-clinical sample made up of individuals with mental retardation (n = 108) who were not currently taking psychotropic medications, psychiatrically hospitalized, diagnosed with mental illness, nor participating in behavioral support services, and had no history of doing so for at least ten years. Of the 108 individuals in the sample 63% were men (n =68) and 37% were women (n = 40), with a chronological age range of 23.0 years to 85.83 years (M = 46.32; SD = 13.21). Mental retardation classification composition for the sample was 35.2% mild (n = 38), 26.9% moderate (n = 29), 17.6% severe (n = 19), and 20.4% profound (n = 22). Individuals included in the sample were all either Caucasian (n= 91) or African American (n = 17). These individuals were compared to individuals in Tolan, Green, Kelley, and Baumann's (2003) sample, 266 of which represent the clinical sample in the present study. The hypotheses were made and supported that there would be significant differences between the non-clinical sample and clinical sample such that individuals in the non-clinical sample would have lower mean raw scores on the following clinical domains: Aggression (I), Executive Function Dyscontrol (II), Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorders (III), Despondence (IV), Anxiety (V), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (VI), Disruptive/Defiant (VII), Sexual Adjustment (VIII), Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorder (IX), Cognitive Deterioration (X) and the Critical Items Inventory. It was additionally hypothesized that individuals in the non-clinical sample would have lower mean raw scores on domain (XII) Test Taking Posture, which measures negative caregiver attitudes towards the individual, and higher mean raw scores on domain (XI) Positive Indicators, which examines adaptive behaviors and positive adjustment. Independent t-tests run on all domains showed support in the predicted direction for differences between the samples. This indicates that the BC is able to discriminate between individuals who do, and who do not exhibit psychopathology or emotional/behavioral difficulties, thus supporting the construct validity of each domain, in that they were established to identify behavioral and psychopathology constructs. This is a major step in providing clinicians with a clinical tool that will assist in the screening, assessment, behavioral tracking, and treatment of individuals with dual diagnosis. Implications for future research include identification of possible main effects and interactions of mental retardation classification, gender, age, and ethnicity on domain scores in a non-clinical sample.
Subject:
People with mental disabilities--Examinations
Subject:
Behavioral assessment
Subject:
People with mental disabilities
Subject:
Examinations
Degree:
Master of Arts
Level:
Master
Discipline:
Clinical Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online to Loyola Notre Dame Library basic constituency.
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Identifier:
DroppaKA-06
