Description: The TABS assesses
atypical temperament and self-regulatory behaviors among infants
and young children ages 11 to 71 months that may put them
at risk for developmental delay. There are two components
to the assessment: (1) a Screener, which is a one-page, 15-item
checklist with “Yes” or “No” responses
that is used to determine whether further assessment is needed
and (2) an Assessment Tool, which is a 55-item checklist with
“Yes,” “No” and “Need help”
responses, used to obtain a total raw score, or the Temperament
and Regulatory Index (TRI). Raw scores are also provided for
the four subtests on the following behaviors: detached, hyper-sensitive/active,
underreactive, and dysregu-lated.
Uses of Information: The primary
uses of the TABS are: (1) to serve as a screening tool and
determine eligibility for particular services, (2) to identify
serious developmentally dysfunctional behaviors early and
intervene to reduce their occurrence, (3) to provide assistance
to parents in managing atypical behaviors, (4) to plan programs
for education, treatment, and intervention, and (5) to evaluate
program impacts and conduct research.
Reliability: (1) Internal consistency
(Cronbach’s alpha) for the TABS Screener is .83. (2)
The corrected split-half reliability for the TABS is .95 for
children with disabilities and for the pooled samples and
.88 for children not at risk.
Validity: Content validity has
been ensured in two ways: (1) TABS items have been developed
based on an extensive literature review that identified behaviors
related to a number of infant and child disorders, and (2)
the four factors underlying the TABS have shown promising
results when tested statistically. There was no discussion
of concurrent or predictive validity.
Method of Scoring: In administering
the Screener and the Assessment Tool, the examiner will have
checked a “Yes” if a certain behavior is a current
or recent problem and a “No” if the behavior is
not a problem or does not apply because of the child’s
age. In scoring the Screener, the examiner adds up the items
that are checked “Yes” and that sum becomes the
raw score, which serves as an estimate for the Temperament
and Regulatory Index (TRI). Children who have raw scores of
1 or higher on the Screener should be assessed using the Assessment
Tool, which more accurately calculates the TRI. There are
three types of scores that can be derived from the TABS Assessment
Tool: percentiles, standard scores, and normalized standard
scores. Typically, the percentiles are the most practical
tool for interpreting TABS results for parents, as well as
for determining educational and treatment plans for children.
Interpretability: The authors
suggest that the child’s TRI score should be reported,
interpreted and used for decision-making purposes, as the
subtest scores tend to be less reliable than the complete
TRI. A percentile means that a child has scored equal to or
better than the respective percentage of children in the normative
sample. For example, a percentile of 70 indicates that a child
has a raw score equal to or better than 70 percent of the
sample on the TRI. The cutoff point for the TRI is 10. This
means that children who score 10 or higher can most likely
be classified as having atypical development, meaning they
have difficulty with their temperament and self-regulation.
Children with disabilities are more likely to earn higher
raw scores (6+) while those without disabilities are more
likely to earn lower raw scores (0 to 4). A child is at risk
for atypical temperament and/or self-regulation if s/he has
a TRI score between 5 and 9, because children with disabilities
earn those scores equal to or more often than their non-disabled
peers.
Training Support: “Brookes
on Location” professional development seminar, Using
TABS to Identify Early Atypical Behavior is available through
publisher.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for
Individuals with Disabilities: None described, but
the measure was normed with children with and without disabilities.
Report Preparation Support:
Chapter 6 describes an early intervention program to address
challenging behavior that was developed using research editions
of TABS. A case study is also provided in this chapter to
demonstrate how TABS might be used in an early intervention
program of this nature.
References:
Neiswroth, John, Stephen Bagnato, John Salvia, and Frances
Hunt. TABS Manual for the Temperament and Atypical Behavior
Scale: Early Child Indicators of Developmental Dysfunction.
Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1999.
|
