Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Measurement of Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes of Youth in Foster Care: Investigation of the Roles of Age and Placement Type

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Behavioral Assessment System for Children–2 (BASC-2) is used to assess behavioral and emotional outcomes for youth. Research providing evidence for use of the BASC-2 parent-report form historically has included biological parents reporting on their children (Reynolds and Kamphaus 2004). For youth residing in out-of-home placements through enrollment in foster care, caregivers reporting on their functioning may include foster parents or residential staff. Given the significant adverse mental health outcomes for youth in foster care and the need to adequately assess adjustment in foster care, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the measurement properties of caregivers’ report on the parent report form (PRS) of the BASC-2 in foster care youth. Using 479 respondents, a measurement model was fit to the data demonstrating adequate fit across Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, and Adaptive Skills. Further, a comparison of measurement properties across child and adolescent groups and groups of youth residing in residential facilities versus foster homes was conducted. Factorial invariance and latent means also were assessed. The BASC-2 PRS was found to be an adequate assessment of psychological outcomes for youth in foster care when completed by foster parents or residential facility staff.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2000). Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms & profiles: An integrated system of multi-informant assessment. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, A. J., Kurland, D., Curtis, P., Alexander, G., & Papa-Lentini, C. (2007). Mental health and behavioral problems of youth in the child welfare system: Residential treatment centers compared to therapeutic foster care in the Odyssey Project population. Child Welfare, 86(3), 97–123.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barth, R. P. (2002). Institutions vs. foster homes: The empirical base for the second century of debate. Chapel Hill: Annie E. Casey Foundation, University of North Carolina, School of Social Work, Jordan Institute for Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biederman, J., Mick, E., & Faraone, S. V. (2000). Age-dependent decline of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: impact of remission definition and symptom type. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(5), 816–818.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birmaher, B., Axelson, D., Strober, M., Gill, M. K., Yang, M., Ryan, N., & Leonard, H. (2009). Comparison of manic and depressive symptoms between children and adolescents with bipolar spectrum disorders. Bipolar Disorders, 11(1), 52–62.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, G. J., Matthews, G., & Saklofske, D. H. (2008). The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carbone, J. A., Sawyer, M. G., Searle, A. K., & Robinson, P. J. (2007). The health-related quality of life of children and adolescents in home-based foster care. Quality of Life Research, 16(7), 1157–1166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2005). Child maltreatment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 409–438.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conners, C. K. (1997). Conners’ Rating Scales- Revised. North Tonawanda: Multi-Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Los Reyes, A. (2011). Introduction to the special section: More than measurement error: Discovering meaning behind informant discrepancies in clinical assessments of children and adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(1), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Los Reyes, A., & Kazdin, A. E. (2005). Informant discrepancies in the assessment of childhood psychopathology: A critical review, theoretical framework, and recommendations for further study. Psychological Bulletin, 131(4), 483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • English, D. J., Upadhyaya, M. P., Litrownik, A. J., Marshall, J. M., Runyan, D. K., Graham, J. C., & Dubowitz, H. (2005). Maltreatment’s wake: The relationship of maltreatment dimensions to child outcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(5), 597–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, E. M., Wagner, H. R., Burns, B. J., & Richards, J. T. (2003). Treatment foster care in a system of care: Sequences and correlates of residential placements. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 12(1), 11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gioia, G. A., Isquith, P. K., Guy, S. C., & Kenworthy, L. (2000). Test review behavior rating inventory of executive function. Child Neuropsychology, 6(3), 235–238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham-Berman, S. A., & Perkins, S. (2010). Effects of early exposure and lifetime exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) on child adjustment. Violence and Victims, 25(4), 427–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanchon, T. A., & Allen, R. A. (2013). Identifying students with emotional disturbance: School psychologists’ practices and perceptions. Psychology in the Schools, 50(2), 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Havalchak, A., White, C. R., O’Brien, K., & Pecora, P. J. (2007). Casey family programs young adult survey 2006: Examining outcomes for young adults served in out-of-home care. Seattle: Casey Family Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hersen, M., & Turner, S. M. (Eds.). (2003). Diagnostic interviewing. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, Y., Gabrielli, J., Fleming, K., Tunno, A. M., & Makanui, P. K. (2014). Untangling the relative contribution of maltreatment severity and frequency to type of behavioral outcome in foster youth. Child Abuse & Neglect. 38(7), 1147–1159.

  • Jackson, Y., Gabrielli, J., Tunno, A. M., & Hambrick, E. P. (2012). Strategies for longitudinal research with youth in foster care: A demonstration of methods, barriers, and innovations. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(7), 1208–1213.

  • James, S., Leslie, L. K., Hurlburt, M. S., Slymen, D. J., Landsverk, J., Davis, I., & Zhang, J. (2006). Children in out-of-home care: Entry into intensive or restrictive mental health and residential care placements. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 14(4), 196–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, S., Pelcovitz, D., & Labruna, V. (1999). Child and adolescent abuse and neglect research: A review of the past 10 years. Part 1: Physical and emotional abuse and neglect. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(10), 1214–1221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall-Tackett, K. A., & Eckenrode, J. (1996). The effects of neglect on academic achievement and disciplinary problems: A developmental perspective. Child Abuse & Neglect, 20, 161–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langberg, J. M., Epstein, J. N., Altaye, M., Molina, B. S., Arnold, L. E., & Vitiello, B. (2008). The transition to middle school is associated with changes in the developmental trajectory of ADHD symptomatology in young adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37(3), 651–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D. (1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32(1), 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 151–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D., Slegers, D. W., & Card, N. A. (2006). A non-arbitrary method of identifying and scaling latent variables in SEM and MACS models. Structural Equation Modeling, 13(1), 59–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D., Card, N. A., Slegers, D. W., & Ledford, E. C. (2007). Representing contextual effects in multiple-group MACS models. In T. D. Little, J. A. Bovaird, & N. A. Card (Eds.), Modeling ecological and contextual effects in longitudinal studies of human development. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac Callum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1(2), 130–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, J. S., Lee, B. R., Barth, R. P., & Rauktis, M. E. (2010). Comparing three years of well-being outcomes for youth in group care and nonkinship foster care. Child Welfare, 89, 229–250.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, J. R., Hollmann, C., & Riegel, T. (1994). A preliminary study of the usefulness of the behavior assessment systems for children in the evaluation of mental health needs in a head start population. Psychological Reports, 75(3), 1195–1201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nail, J. M., & Evans, J. G. (1997). The emotional adjustment of gifted adolescents: A view of global functioning. Roeper Review, 20(1), 18–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oosterman, M., Schuengel, N., Slot, N. W., Bullens, R. A. R., & Dorleijers, T. A. H. (2007). Disruptions in foster care: A review and meta-analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 29(1), 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, J. M., Epstein, R., Jordan, N., Mandell, D. S., & Lyons, J. S. (2009). Predictors of residential placement following a psychiatric crisis episode among children and youth in state custody. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79(2), 228–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Petrenko, C. L. M., Friend, A., Garrido, E. F., Taussig, H. N., & Culhane, S. E. (2012). Does subtype matter? Assessing the effects of maltreatment on functioning in preadolescent youth in out-of-home care. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(9), 633–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilowsky, D. J., & Wu, L. T. (2006). Psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders in a nationally representative sample of American adolescents involved with foster care. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(4), 351–358.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2004). Behavior assessment system for children (2nd ed.): Manual. Circle Pines: AGS Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, P. M., Schoff, K. M., Glutting, J. J., & Abelkop, A. S. (2003). Discriminative validity of the behavior assessment system for children-parent rating scales in children with recurrent abdominal pain and matched controls. Psychology in the Schools, 40(2), 145–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, R. G., Little, T. D., Ilardi, S. S., Forehand, R., Brody, G. H., & Hunter, H. L. (2006). A confirmatory comparison of the factor structure of the children’s depression inventory between European American and African American youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15(6), 773–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of Interest

Joy Gabrielli declares that there is no conflict of interest, Yo Jackson declares that there is no conflict of interest, Shaquanna Brown declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Experiment Participants

This research was approved by the University of Kansas institutional review board as well as district county judges who serve as legal guardians for the youth in foster care surveyed through the present study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Ave, Dole Human Development Center, Room 2021, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Joy Gabrielli, Yo Jackson & Shaquanna Brown

Authors
  1. Joy Gabrielli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yo Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shaquanna Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joy Gabrielli.

Additional information

The current project was made possible by funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, RO1 grant MH079252-03 and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, F31 grant DA034423.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gabrielli, J., Jackson, Y. & Brown, S. Measurement of Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes of Youth in Foster Care: Investigation of the Roles of Age and Placement Type. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 37, 422–431 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9464-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9464-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation