Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and ...

CHAPTER 6 SELF-REPORT INVENTORIES107response formats on the new version ofthe SRP may also help safeguard againstresponse sets (Reynolds & Kamphaus,2004). It is still quite possible, however,to have the SRP invalidated by a response setor lack of cooperation. The validity indexesshould be examined at the outset of interpretation;further, the clinician should examinefor himself/herself response patterns thatdo not seem to fit the other evidence providedabout a case. In particular, a child oradolescent might present himself/herselfin an unrealistically favorable light, givenreferral concerns (i.e., that is, nearly allT-scores on the clinical scales are below 50;see Box 6.1).Box 6.1An Example of Fake Good Response SetSelf-report inventories, despite the best effortsof test developers, always remain susceptibleto response sets. In the following case example,the BASC-2-SRP was utilized.Bethany is a 14-year-old girl who wasadmitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit ofa general hospital with a diagnosis of MajorDepression following threats of suicide. Bethany’sparents reportedly divorced two yearsago. She currently lives with her mother andsees her father about once a month. Bethanydoes not have any siblings. Her motherreported that Bethany tends to isolate herselfat home and seems sad and irritable most ofthe time. Bethany is currently in the eighthgrade, and her school attendance during thisyear has been poor. She has been suspendedfrom school on numerous occasions this year,including for getting into fights with peers,refusing to follow teachers’ directions, anddamaging school property. Her grades arereportedly poor, although her mother indicatedthat she used to make mostly “As”and “Bs” until this year. In addition, it wasreported that Bethany has a history of problemsconcentrating at school.Bethany was talkative during the diagnosticinterview, yet it appeared that she was tryingto portray herself in a favorable light, as sheendorsed very few symptoms. When asked abouthobbies, for example, she said that she liked toread. When questioned further, however, shecould not name a book that she had read.According to her mother, Bethany’s familyhistory is significant for depression on bothher maternal and paternal side. Bethany’sfather reportedly had difficulty in school.Bethany’s results show evidence of a socialdesirability response set. On the L-scale of theSRP, Bethany obtained a raw score of 12 whichis in the Extreme Caution range. Furthermore,all but one of her clinical scale scores were lowerthan the normative T-score mean of 50, and allof her adaptive scale scores were above the normativemean of 50. In other words, the SRPresults suggest that Bethany is well-adjustedwhich is inconsistent with her reported currentfunctioning and background information.This example clearly indicates the needto consider all evidence gathered rather thanstrictly relying on the results of any one assessmentstrategy. Her SRP scores were:ScaleClinical ScalesT-ScoreAttitude to School 43Attitude to Teachers 39Attention Problems 44Hyperactivity 40Sensation Seeking 39Atypicality 40Locus of Control 38Somatization 37Social Stress 40Anxiety 32Depression 42Sensation Seeking 51Sense of Inadequacy 42Adaptive ScalesRelations with Parents 51Interpersonal Relations 56Self-Esteem 55Self-Reliance 59