The development of the Adapted Firesetting Assessment Scale

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• Effective treatment for adults who set fires depends on accurate assessment tools.
• Existing self-report measures require validation for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
• Robust and accessible assessment is essential for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To achieve consensus on adapting existing firesetting assessment measures for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
• To enhance the accessibility and reliability of self-report instruments for this population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Delphi exercise with practitioners and a focus group with adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
• Gathered qualitative and quantitative data over three Delphi rounds.
• Assessed the accessibility of item adaptations for the Fire Interest Rating Scale, Fire Attitudes Scale, and Identification with Fire Questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Current firesetting assessment measures need improvement in accessibility for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
• Adaptations to all items across the three questionnaires were deemed necessary.
• Findings indicated a need for enhanced measures to meet the specific needs of this demographic.

Conclusions:

• Revisions to existing measures were successfully implemented based on feedback.
• The Adapted Firesetting Assessment Scale was developed, offering improved accessibility for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
• This new scale enhances the ability to reliably assess firesetting behaviors in this population.