Use of the AML scale to identify adjustment problems in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children

This paper summarizes a series of studies of the technical merit of the AML scale when used to detect school maladaptation in a sample of 684 fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade children. Teachers, who did the rating, readily accepted this screening device. Preliminary norms are offered. Reliability and factor analytic studies show a reasonable degree of uniqueness and internal consistency among the three AML subscales. Relationships to other children's personality and behavioral indices (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and Cooper-smith's Self-Esteem Inventory) were found to be modest. The one-item L Scale correlated well (r = .65) with the California Achievement Test. First developed as a measure of school maladaptation in primary grade youngsters, the AML appears to be readily applicable at intermediate grade levels as well.