Behavioural Assessment
It is distinguished by an increased
emphasis on empirically supported,
multimethod, and multi-informant
assessment of precisely defined,
observable behaviours
Behavioral Assessment- the systematic study and evaluation of an individual’s behavior
using a wide variety of techniques
It includes a variety of methods and instruments that measure
behavioural change through direct and indirect observation of
client’s behavioural problems and the variables that maintain those
problems
• Data collected during behavioral assessment must
be synthesized by the clinician, which in the form
of clinical case formulation which guides
treatment selection
• Clinical case formulation refers to a series of
hypotheses that may be evaluated in light of an
ongoing clinical information collection process
• As such behavioural assessment is an integrative
process and it emphasizes the dynamic and
contingent relationship between assessment,
clinical case formulation, hypothesis testing, and
intervention.
Behavioural assessment is an integral adjunct to
behaviour therapy and it has evolved in a like manner
from basic behavioural research
Goals and Objectives of Behavioural Assessment
• Primary objectives of behavioural assessment include
identifying
• (1) target behavioural problems (i.e. the problems that are to
be modified), and establishing whether the problems
involve behavioural excesses or deficits,
• (2) causal and moderating variables that influence target
behavioural dimension,
• (3) immediate, intermediate, and ultimate interventions,
• (4) those adaptive or appropriate alternative
behaviours that may be responsible to the targeted
behaviours
Goals of Behavioural Assessment
• Haynes and O’Brien (2000) have described the
following goals of behavioural assessment
1. Increase the validity of clinical judgements
2. Obtain informed consent from client and other
relevant parties
3. Select an appropriate assessment method
(e.g. direct observation, indirect observation,
psycho-physiological measurement)
4. Determine if consultation and referral are
appropriate
5. Development of a clinical case formulation
(a) Identify behaviour problems and their interrelations
(b) Identify causal variables and their interrelations
6. Diagnosis (behavioural assessment strategies can be
used to increase the validity of information on which
diagnosis can be made)
7. Predicting behaviour (for example, dangerousness and
self-harm assessment)
8. Design of intervention programmes
(a) Identify client intervention goals and strengths
(b)Identify variables that may moderate intervention
effects (such as occupational status, family support)
(c)Assess client knowledge of goals, problems and
interventions
(d) Evaluate such medical complications that may affect
intervention process or outcomes
(e) Identify potential side effects of intervention
(f) Assess acceptability of intervention plan for client, &
(g) Assess time and financial constraints of therapist and client
9. Intervention process evaluation
(a) Evaluate intervention adherence, cooperation,
and satisfaction
(b) Evaluate client-therapist interaction and rapport
10. Intervention outcome evaluation (immediate,
intermediate, and ultimate intervention goals)
11. Non-clinical goals
(a) Theory development
(b) Assessment instrument development and evaluation
(c) Development and testing of causal models of
behaviour disorders
Assessment Strategies
⦿ Behavioural assessment emphasizes repeated
measurement, quantification, multimethod and
multimodal assessment and assessment of
behaviour as it occurs naturally
⦿ Although assessment of behaviour on just one
occasion may provide an estimate of its current
state, it does not provide information regarding
changes in behavioural patterns over time
⦿ Interrupted time series designs are sometimes
used to assess state-phase relationships
•It involves repeated measurement of behaviours,
assessment of at least one causal variable across time,
and systematic manipulation of causal variables
⦿ Measurement of behaviour implies measurement
of one or more dimensions of behaviour
⦿ A behavioural dimension is a property of an event,
such as rate or the frequency of behaviour per unit
of time, or series of events that can be quantified
⦿ Other dimensions include (1) the magnitude or
intensity of behaviour (e.g. decreasing the intensity
of a fear or anxiety response); (2) the duration of
the behaviour (e.g. decreasing perseveration on a
task, increasing time in the presence of a feared
stimulus)
(3) the latency of the behavioural responses (e.g. decrease
in response time to a stimulus); (4) inter-response time;
and (5) qualitative aspects of a behaviour
Methods of Behavioural Assessment: Behavioural Observation
⦿ 1. Naturalistic Behavioural Observation: Observing an
individual in his /her natural environment(e.g. home,
school, work) usually in a context that is most
associated with a problem behaviour) in a time
sampling interval (e.g. 20-sec periods, 5-min periods)
⦿ 2. Analogue Behavioural Observation: Observing a
client’s behaviour in a contrived environment (e.g. a
waiting room, playroom, clinical setting) that is
analogous to situations the client is likely to encounter
in his/her environment
Behavioural Rating Scales
and Behavioural Checklists
⦿ A behavioural rating scale is an assessment
instrument completed by a clinician or a third
party (e.g. significant other, teacher, parent, peer)
that includes items that assess one or more
targeted client’s behaviours
⦿ Two types: Narrow Band Behavioural Rating Scales
and Broad Band Behavioural Rating Scales
⦿ Narrow Band scales include items that sample from
a small number of domains and are not intended to
be global measures of an individual’s behaviouir
• Broad Band scales usually include more items, sample
from a wider spectrum of behaviours, and are often
used to screen for more than one disorder/ syndrome
⦿ A behavioural checklist is similar to a
behavioural rating scale but often includes
fewer items and may include dichotomously
scored response options
⦿ Although behavioural rating scales and
behavioural checklists are popular measures it
must be emphasized that these are indirect
measures
⦿ These measures reflect a rater’s bias and resultant retrospective
impression of a client’s behaviour rather than an objective
recording of the rate of a behaviour as is done in naturalistic
observation
• In addition to that they also do not provide any
information pertaining to the functional relations of
variables
⦿ To overcome this limitation, multiple informants
having access to a client’s behaviour from
different contexts may be asked to give the
responses
Psychophysiological Assessment
⦿ Recording and quantifying of physiological
and motoric components of behaviour
problems in a controlled situation using a
variety of devices, especially
electromyographic, EEG, cardiovascular, and
electrodermal measures
Self-Monitoring
⦿ Systematic self-observation and recording of
parameters (e.g. frequency, intensity) of targeted
behaviours, environmental events, cognitions, and/or
mood states
⦿ Sometimes neither naturalistic nor analogue
observation methods are feasible. For example, a
behaviour may occur only in private (e.g. vomiting in
a client diagnosed as bulimic), may not be directly
observable (e.g. negative self-statements), may
occur in contexts that cannot be easily observed
(e.g. problematic interaction with the boss), or may
not be easily observable in an analogue situation
(e.g. group social gathering)
• A pre-determined schedule (hourly, daily, when an
event occurs) or an electronic device such as pager or
handheld computers may be used for recording
⦿ A common self-monitoring record is an A-B-C
log, or a serial record of antecedent events (A)
that occur prior to a behaviour (B) and the
consequences (C ) or the events that follow the
behaviour
⦿ The accuracy of self-monitoring data can be affected by several
factors such as faking, delay in recording an event, the number of
behaviours being recorded, social desirability, demand
characteristics, etc.
⦿ Difficulty in self-monitoring with children
⦿ Several strategies are used to check its
accuracy
Self-Report Instruments
⦿ 1. Behavioural Interview: A structured or
semi-structured interview that assesses
dimensions of a client’s behaviour,
behaviour-environment interactions,
behavioural contexts, and functional
relationship of a behaviour with other variables
⦿ 2. Behavioural Questionnaires: Several such
instruments have been developed for specific
behaviour patterns
⦿ Issues of reliability and validity of these
measures
