The adaptive behavior scale-residential and community (part I): towards the development of a short form

A potential 24-item short form (SABS) of the 73-item Adaptive Behavior Scale-Residential and Community (Part I) (ABS-RC2; Nihira et al., 1993a, b) was developed, based on data from two diverse UK samples of adults with intellectual disabilities living in residential services (n = 560 and 254). SABS factor and total scores showed good internal reliability in both samples (alpha 0.89-0.98), and were highly correlated with their full ABS-RC2 Part I equivalents (r = 0.97-0.99). Regression equations were calculated for SABS factor and total scores against their full ABS-RC2 Part I equivalents. Levels of agreement between predicted quartile scores (derived from the regression equations) and actual full ABS-RC2 Part I quartile scores were high (kappa 0.75-0.89; percentage agreement 82%-92%). It is concluded that the SABS is a potentially useful research tool, although further work is clearly needed to establish the reliability and cross-cultural validity of the instrument.