Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents-Home (ASCA-H)

• Contains 202 behavioral descriptions appropriate for home situations. Each behavioral description is presented with reference to 34 specific social, recreational, or daily living situations in which a child’s adjustment to authority, agemates, smaller/weaker children, and various tasks may be observed.

ASCA-H ContextsContext Greet parent Answer parent questions Seek parent help Talk with parent Value parent attention Truthful with parent General manner with parent Behave at home React to parent correction Greet other adults Get along with other adults Companions Get along with other children Respect belongings of other children Stand ground Care for belongings Cope with new tasks Cope with household jobs or chores Cope with waiting in line Sleeping patterns Behavior at meal time Personal cleanliness Take part in games Participate in organized activities Informal or unorganized play Work with hands Get ready for school Attend school Cope with homework Troublesome activities Illicit activities Nervous habits or fears Sudden outbursts Other behaviors of concern

Frequently Endorsed ASCA-H Items

Item Rate School attendance has been good .92 Asks for parent help when needed .92 Personal cleanliness same as others .89 Respects others’ property .89 Talks freely with parent .82 Stands up for self when has to .81 A good mixer .81 Well behaved with other adults .80 Friendly with parent .80 Gets ready for school appropriately .79 Does homework on own .78 Goes to be without too much fuss .78 Answers parent questions .75 Enjoys club or team activities .75 Greets parents are most children .73 Has one or more friends .73 Eats food served by parent .73 Gives new tasks a try .72 Eagerly joins games .70 Likes to be praised .69

Least Frequently Endorsed ASCA-H ItemsItem Rate Supplies dangerous drugs to others .000 Has carried a dangerous weapon .000 Regularly drinks alcohol .001 Accuses others of spying/plotting .001 Constantly talks about germs .001 Responds to imaginary voices .003 Stole from car, store, building .004 Claims fame or special powers .004 Talks about hurting/killing self .004 Extreme fear of comm on animals .004 Skips school with friends .005 Uses dangerous drugs .005 Deliberately damaged property .005 Has muscle tics .006 Fights with others in line .008 Expelled from organized activities .008 Makes sexually offensive remarks .008 Regularly smokes/chews tobacco .008 Persistently eats nonedibles .008 Uses dirty words .009 Tries to dominate peers .009 Participates in fights with a gang .009 Unkind to weaker children .010 Too disinterested to play games .010

ASCA-H ADH Factor

Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Syndrome• 29 salient items that reflect attention-seeking,

impulsivity, and restlessness.• Similar to ADH factor of ASCA• 14% exhibited 0-1 ADH behaviors• Boys and girls not significantly different• African ethnic background higher than East Indian

background (but only 2.6% of variance due to ethnicity)

• Reliability (internal consistency) of .81

ADH ItemsNo.

Situational Behavior Combined Girls Boys

123 Has trouble waiting turn in games .555 .541 .508

62 Uses various ways to get other adults’ attention .553 .542 .462

101 Restless and fidgety while waiting in line .471 .391 .429

16 Much to talkative with parent .470 .341 .495

39 Misbehaves when parent attending to other things .446 .441 .473

125 Poor loser in games .425 .448 .481

6 Greets parent loudly .424 .391 .358

24 Uses various way to get parent’s attention .419 .398 .376

75 Tries to dominate peers .416 .484 .239

114 Constantly restless at meal times .415 .535 .379

70 Clowns around with peers .413 .306 .408

151 Distracted so not ready on time .412 .438 .376

47 Argues and talks back when corrected by parent .409 .361 .424

30 Sometim es lies to avoid punishment .409 .441 .374

45 Behavior improves after correction but not for long .400 .480 .360

15 Seeks help from parent when not needed .395 .210 .436

102 Argues and complains about waiting in line .391 .311 .477

106 Throws tantrums at bedtime .384 .311 .408

132 Rather loud at unorganized play .382 .327 .295

135 W ants to dominate and have own way at play .375 .422 .315

94 Becomes upset on first try with new task .367 .263 .413

7 Answers questions without taking time to think .361 .393 .265

55 W elcom es other adults loudly .359 .328 .205

124 Inclined to cheat in games .357 .436 .340

44 Does things in front of parent that s/he knows are wrong .344 .316 .392

90 Charges in without thinking on new tasks .332 .391 .318

142 Fools around when working with hands .318 .307 .337

37 Sometim es in unfriendly mood with parent .313 .306 .278

ASCA-H CP Factor

Conduct Problem Syndrome• 21 salient items depict aggressive and

confrontative behavior• Similar to CP factor of ASCA• Shares 12% variance with ADH factor• 73% had no CP items endorsed• No significant difference for gender or ethnic• Reliability (internal consistency) of .76.

However, .825 for boys and .580 for girls.

CP ItemsNo.

Situational Behavior Combined Girls Boys

137 Starts fights and rough play .549 .007 .653

42 Disobedient, difficult to control .501 .318 .513

79 Has deliberately destroyed others’ belongings .478 .206 .516

76 Fights physically with peers .475 .004 .606

50 Answers back aggressively to parent correction .446 .361 .604

158 Lies about assignments .434 .045 .540

139 Overly rough with sm aller/weaker children .427 .222 .545

162 Has intentionally hurt animals .425 .014 .590

179 May throw objects .404 .341 .396

60 Rude to other adults .386 .196 .460

171 Has deliberately dam aged property .371 .527 .606

58 Use bad language that offends other adults .362 .018 .290

33 Distant with parent .345 .060 .379

18 Rude or angry tone with parent .343 .348 .317

165 Steals from home .342 .053 .372

159 Destroys school materials .341 .171 .487

134 Disturbs others’ fun in unorganized play .329 .059 .416

20 Uses offensive language with parent .325 .158 .193

77 Takes others’ things without permission .321 .001 .348

175 Actions interrupted by involuntary movements .316 .327 .523

164 Threatens to hurt others if doesn’t get what wants .316 .099 .391

74 Quarrels, provokes other children .311 .294 .272

73 Unkind to weaker children .299 .053 .365

ASCA UN Factor• Underactivity syndrome• 25 items that describe shy, withdrawn, timid, fearful,

and apathetic behavior• Similar to UN factor of ASCA• 32% had one or fewer UN item endorsed• No major differences among gender or ethnic

background• Shares 6% variance with CP factor and 8% variance

with ADH factor• Reliability (internal consistency) of .71

UN ItemsNo.

Situational Behavior Combined Girls Boys

59 Too shy to inte ract with other adults .474 .575 .271

57 Too shy to greet other adults .446 .494 .317

48 Feelings are easily hurt .415 .412 .364

56 Fearful of other adults .412 .347 .524

138 Tends to play by self .401 .414 .325

36 Overly dependent on parent .397 .361 .370

14 Never seeks parent help .385 .420 .413

119 Needs encouragement to join in gam es .382 .384 .256

41 Never any trouble because so timid .371 .265 .378

104 Lets others push ahead in line .359 .379 .330

38 Shy but not unfriendly .351 .388 .270

82 Does not stand up for self .338 .287 .358

52 W aits for other adults to greet first .337 .388 .226

8 Not shy but rarely offers an answer .335 .270 .339

80 Too uninterested in other children .320 .288 .336

88 Overly fussy with own things .315 .307 .279

85 Allows self to be bullied .313 .150 .408

98 Too withdrawn to offer help with chores .311 .346 .228

3 W aits for parent to greet first .309 .385 .201

17 Tends to have untalkative moods .303 .307 .339

64 Sometim es wanders off by self .300 .378 .245

2 Clings to parent or shows tears .273 .403 .048

34 Rarely smiles .252 .311 .104

21 So timid difficult to speak to parent .280 .225 .389

23 W ants parent interest but holds back .258 .220 .318

ASCA-H Administration

• Completed by parent or guardian who is thoroughly familiar with the day-to-day behavior of the child

• Forms for males and females• Completed in 15-20 minute session• May be helpful to let parent examine

ASCA-H form several days before rating

ASCA-H Scoring

• Use ASCA-H Scoring Template• Place transparent Scoring Template over

parent report form• When valid ASCA-H item is marked, fill in

corresponding box on ASCA-H Score Summary Sheet

• Sum raw scores for all three syndromes• Convert raw scores to percentiles

ASCA-H NormsPercentile ADH CP UN

5 0 0 0 10 1 0 0 20 2 0 1 25 3 0 1 30 3 0 1 35 4 0 2 40 4 0 2 45 4 0 2 50 5 0 3 55 5 0 3 60 6 0 3 65 7 0 4 70 7 0 4 75 8 1 5 80 9 1 5 82 10 1 6 85 11 1 7 90 12 2 7 92 13 2 8 93 14 2 8 94 14 2 8 95 15 3 9 96 16 3 10 97 17 4 11 98 18-19 5 12-

13 99 20+ 6+ 14+

ASCA-H Interpretation• Guided by overall elevation of student scores on

syndromes• Scores < 85 percentile -- adjusted• Scores of 85-94 percentile -- at risk• Scores ≥ 95 percentile -- maladjusted• Nature of items endorsed and syndrome• Individual items explored to better understand student’s

situation• Some items are diagnostic alone• Positive endorsements should also be reviewed• Interpret cautiously and in the context of other information

about the child

ASCA-H Limitations

• Not intended as a symptom checklist• Does not list all possible types of maladaptive

behavior• Certain rare forms of behavior pathology require

no confirmation across contexts• Not a measure of depression or anxiety• Reliability of CP for girls is low.• Only deals with problems that can be detected and

reported by parents

Sample ASCA CaseJoe

• Joe - male

• Age - 7

• Grade - Infant 2

Common Functions of Behavior

• Contingent social positive reinforcement– Teacher (other adults)– Peers

• Contingent tangible positive reinforcement

• Social negative reinforcement

• Contingent sensory or automatic reinforcement

Resources