Ask the Expert: How to Conduct Behavioral Assessment of Children and Adolescents

This presentation will provide an overview of objective assessment procedures used in the evaluation of child and adolescent behavior problems. This will include a review of diagnostic assessment procedures used in the identification of both externalizing (e.g., ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and internalizing (e.g., Anxiety, Depression) disorders, and a review of functional behavior assessment procedures as they are commonly employed in the school setting to identify the purpose, cause, or function of a problem behavior. The presentation will provide a historical context for the utilization of these methods and stress the importance of developmental considerations when assessing children and adolescents. The foundations of behavioral assessment will be presented, with particular attention to the psychometric aspects of the reliability and validity of these various methods. Methods discussed will include multi-informant behavior rating scales, direct observation, interview of parent and child, self-report, peer assessment, and clinic-based or analog assessment. Approaches to evaluating for specific diagnoses such as ADHD and Autism will be discussed. The methods utilized for conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment will also be presented.