RESEARCH UPDATE REVIEW
Ten-Year Review of Rating Scales. VI: Scales Assessing Externalizing Behaviors

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Objective

This is the sixth article in a series of 10-year reviews of rating scales. The current article reviews scales that assess externalizing behaviors such as disruptive behavior disorders and aggression.

Method

Relevant scales were found by searching popular electronic databases. The search was then broadened by a review of the references in selected articles. Due to the paucity of well-established scales, any such scales with potential utility for elucidating the functioning of youths with externalizing behaviors were selected.

Results

None of these scales is diagnosis-based, although some correlate with DSM-IV-defined disruptive behavior disorders. Most scales assessing disruptive behavior disorders have a solid normative base, good psychometric functioning, and high clinical utility. Scales assessing aggression comprise a bimodal group. Several have been adapted from the adult literature and are widely used in clinical practice, while others address theoretical aspects of aggression and are used predominantly in research. Empirical support for all of the scales assessing aggression varies widely, although several show potential for routine clinical practice.

Conclusions

Overall, these scales measure a variety of constructs with considerable utility for assessing youths’ externalizing behaviors, predicting outcome, and evaluating treatment effects. Many need further validation with youth.

Section snippets

SCALES MEASURING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR DISORDERS AND OTHER EXTERNALIZING BEHAVIORS

As noted in the previous article (Collett et al., 2003), several ADHD scales also assess DSM-IV-defined ODD and CD behaviors, for example the Conners Rating Scales-Revised (Conners, 1997), the SNAP-IV (Swanson, 1992), and the Vanderbilt AD/HD Diagnostic Parent and Teacher Rating Scales (Wolraich et al., 1998, in press). There has been much less emphasis on DSM-based scales that assess ODD and CD apart from ADHD. However, there are several scales not based on DSM nomenclature that assess general

SCALES MEASURING AGGRESSION

A generally accepted definition of aggression is an action that is intended to harm or hurt another living being (Crick and Grotpeter, 1995). Although it is often assumed that aggression is akin to physical violence, this definition implies that aggression can cause harm in a variety of ways. Aggression theorists and researchers have increasingly recognized that aggressive behavior is not a unitary concept, and focus has expanded to include the diverse behaviors intended to inflict harm. There

DISCUSSION

The scales reviewed in this article differ from those in the previous article regarding ADHD scales (Collett et al., 2003) in that they do not focus on a specific diagnosis or DSM-IV construct. Instead, these scales emphasize important theoretical constructs and behaviors that are often targets for intervention in work with youths with a variety of diagnoses. There are benefits to using DSM-IV-derived scales, as they are compatible with an established nosology, lending support to their

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