Practical Applications of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for Ages 1.5 to 90+ Years

This workshop presents instruments for assessing behavioural, emotional, and social problems and adaptive functioning. Developmentally appropriate instruments are designed for assessing preschool children, school-age children, adolescents, adults between the ages of 18 and 59, and adults over the age of 59.To obtain multiple perspectives, selfreport forms are completed by the person who is being assessed and parallel forms are completed by people who know the person being assessed. The informants include parents, teachers, spouses, partners, caregivers, friends, and grown children of the person being assessed. ASEBA software systematically compares problems reported by each respondent.The systematic comparisons reveal similarities among and differences between problems reported by each respondent.The ASEBA also includes the Semistructured Clinical Interview for Children and Adolescents (SCICA) and the Test Observation Form (TOF), which documents problems observed during psychological testing. We first present ASEBA assessment forms, scales for scoring problems and competencies, profiles for displaying item and scale scores, cross-informant comparisons, and multicultural applications.Thereafter, we illustrate applications of ASEBA instruments to particular cases