The development of a problem behavior assessment tool
Date
1989
Authors
Montgomery, Kathleen May
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Abstract
The involvement of psychologists in the assessment and diagnosis of patients with possibly neurological disorders has a considerable history. More recently. psychologists have begun the provision of behavioral care and therapy to affected patients. The development of cognitive rehabilitation programs and centers intended to maximize the life skills of young head- injured patients is perhaps the most publicized of these efforts. Yet smaller numbers of psychologists are also trying to assist Long Term Care facilities in improving the
behavioral care available to facility residents.
Psychological tests play a central role in assessment. Yet the test instruments available to date offer little benefit in the development of behavior management plans. This dissertation is about the development of an instrument that attempts to gather systematic information about the behaviors of Long Term Care (LTC) residents in a fashion that allows an initial clinical picture of behavior problems to be formed.
The instrument, named the Problem Behavior Assessment Tool (PBAT), was developed after frequent consultations with nurses regarding the clinical characteristics of problem behaviors observed in LTC residents. It contains two parts. The first part asks questions answered 11yes11 or "no"; the second part requires a further elaboration of existing problem behaviors, and delineates their "who, what, when and where" aspects. The PBAT contains three unique features not seen in other behavioral assessment tools: (a) it rates behaviors considered to be problems by care staff, not by outside professionals, (b) it measures frequency and severity of problem behaviors via qualitatively different (multidimensional) items, not via a quantity of uniform items which yield a summed score; and, (c) it produces a preliminary picture of problem behaviors displayed by a resident.
The inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the PBAT are examined.