Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Development of a Virtual Reality Assessment of Everyday Living Skills
Published on: April 23, 2014
Initial validation of the functional impairment scale for children and adolescents
1Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824, USA. franks@pilot.msu.edu
Objective:
Two studies assessed the validity of the Functional Impairment Scale for Children and Adolescents (FISCA), a multidimensional parent-report questionnaire.
Method:
In study 1, quasi-exploratory and confirmatory procedures tested whether FISCA data for 804 inpatients (mean age = 13.4, 456 boys), collected October 1994 through December 1995, fit a 3-factor model. Study 2 (n = 330) used survival and discriminant analyses to predict recidivism status at 3 and 6 months follow-up from FISCA scores at intake.
Results:
The 8 FISCA scales reduced to 3 factors describing undercontrolled aggression, social role violations, and self-focused aspects of child functional impairment. Serious impairment on the Aggression and School scales each predicted a 3-fold increase in recidivism risk. Together, impairment scores for Aggression, School, Thinking, and Delinquency correctly identified 73% of the recidivists. However, 51% of the nonrecidivists also were classified as recidivists.
Conclusions:
Although these data initially support the FISCA's validity, they underscore the need for more effective strategies to identify severely impaired children whose problems will be sporadic or short-lived.
