The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for Ages 1.5 to 18 Years
This chapter presents Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) instruments for children aged 1.5 to 18. It deals with an overview of how ASEBA instruments, and describes their key features and summarizing the specific ASEBA instruments for different ages and sources of data. The ASEBA approach emphasizes that competencies are as important as problems for children's adaptive development. Parents are vital sources of information about their children's problems and competencies. The ASEBA also includes instruments for direct observations, clinical interviews, and assessment of behavior during psychological testing. The chapter also presents psychometric information, including data on norms, reliability, and validity and strategies for interpreting ASEBA findings. It discusses applications of the instruments to treatment planning, monitoring, and outcomes assessment. Internalizing and externalizing groupings of syndromes have also been obtained in second-order factor analyses of syndromes scored from other ASEBA forms. The chapter concludes with a case illustration demonstrating use of ASEBA instruments.