Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Adaptive Behavior Scale with psychiatric patients.

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) using a sample of institutionalized, mentally disturbed adults. 188 clients on extended-care wards of a state-operated inpatient psychiatric facility were assessed with the ABS. An exploratory orthogonal principal-components analysis found three underlying factors: Independent Functioning, Interpersonal Maladaptation, and Intrapersonal Maladaptation. Evidence for the construct validity of the ABS with psychiatric patients was provided by analyses showing that older clients, those who had been currently hospitalized for longer amounts of time, and those with organic or schizophrenic disorders had lower levels of adaptive functioning than did their counterparts. The findings suggest that the ABS may be appropriately used with psychiatric patients. Suggestions for revising the ABS are made, and implications for the clinical use of the instrument are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)