Psychometric Properties of The Challenging Behavior Rating Scale: An Instrument to Assess the Challenging Behaviors in Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

The Challenging Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) is a 40-item respondent based behavioral rating scale for Aggression to People/Objects (APO; 9 items), Self-Aggression/Stimulation (SAS; 11 items), Odd/Repetitive (ODR; 9 items), Socially Inappropriate (SI; 8 items) and Deviant (D; 3 items) in intellectual and developmental disabilities. It was administered by interviewing primary care givers of 620 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities attending special schools and residential centers between the ages of 4 to 58 years. Psychometric evidences (moderate to good range) are established that included internal consistency, concurrent and criterion group validity, and partial- confirmatory factor validity. The main outcome of the tool was to be able to classify individuals with IDD whose behavior challenges, at different levels: Typical, High-Risk & Critical. The utility of the tool in clinical as well as community settings are discussed.