Measuring adaptive behavior in inpatient neuropsychiatry: the Behavioural Assessment Scale

The Behavioural Assessment Scale (BAS) was administered to a sample of 95 inpatients with neuropsychiatric conditions. The total scores in the sample ranged from 26 to 145 (maximum possible score is 163), without any evidence of the "floor effect" encountered with other tests used with this population. Investigation into the psychometric structure of the BAS revealed three factors interpreted as Daily Living Skills, Communication/Social Skills, and Problem Behavior. The high intercorrelation between the two dominant factors was interpreted as general sensitivity of the BAS to global decline in functioning associated with severity of illness. These results confirm a previous psychometric investigation carried out on an elderly psychiatric sample. A recommendation is made for interpreting subscales based on these factor domains when specific abilities are of interest and using a Global Functioning subscale as a measure of overall adaptive behavior for both adult and geriatric inpatient neuropsychiatry patients.