Elsevier

Research in Developmental Disabilities

Volume 24, Issue 5, September–October 2003, Pages 391-404
Research in Developmental Disabilities

The Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Behavior Problems Inventory: convergent and divergent validity

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0891-4222(03)00055-6Get rights and content

Abstract

This study was designed to compare and cross-validate two rating instruments [the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI)] for assessing maladaptive behavior. The BPI assesses three types of behavior problems: Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB), Stereotyped Behavior and Aggressive/Destructive Behavior. The ABC assesses five domains including these three. We collected data on 226 adults, mostly with severe or profound mental retardation, from a medium-sized developmental center. Individuals with elevated BPI scores generally had higher ABC scores; however, the extent of covariation differed across subscales. Similarly, multiple regression analyses showed that BPI subscales significantly but selectively predicted ABC subscale scores. Measures of differential diagnostic value (positive and negative predictive power, sensitivity, specificity and overall correct diagnostic efficiency) confirmed the anticipated partial overlap between instruments. Both instruments were used to rate participants with and without a Diagnosis of Stereotyped Movement Disorder. BPI, SIB and Stereotypy subscale composite had stronger positive predictive power than the ABC Stereotypy scale, while the ABC had higher negative predictive power and greater overall diagnostic efficiency. Thus, the ABC and the BPI cross-validated one another where expected, and they diverged for subscales thought to have little relationship.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 226 adults with mental retardation who lived at a medium-size developmental center in Louisiana. Demographic characteristics (gender, age and level of mental retardation) are shown in Table 1. Over 45% of the participants had at least one clinical psychiatric diagnosis. One individual had three psychiatric diagnoses, 13 had two, and 103 had one. Stereotyped Movement Disorder (n=39; 17.3%) was the most prevalent diagnosis, followed by Bipolar Disorder (n=11; 4.9%), Pervasive

Results

Data analysis was performed on subscale and total scores. Only the frequency scales of the BPI were used here since correlations between the frequency and severity scales were high (.93 for Self-Injurious Behavior, .92 for Stereotyped Behavior, and .87 for Aggression/Destruction; N=226). Table 2 contains the means, standard deviations, and the range of the ABC and BPI subscale scores. Neither the ABC nor the BPI had normally distributed data.

Discussion

To recap, this study was designed to assess cross-validity of the ABC and BPI. This was accomplished by exploring three questions.

We predicted that individuals with elevated BPI scores would also have higher ABC subscale scores than individuals with low BPI scores. The data unequivocally confirmed that, and they also indicated that the covariance between the two instruments differed across subscales. One would expect this if the scales were to cross-validate each other in a convergent and

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by Grant #R215K010121 from the US Department of Education. The authors appreciate the critical comments and helpful suggestions by John W. Jacobson on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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