title: Are CAFAS subscales and item weights valid? A preliminary investigation of the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale.
abstract: Presents a psychometric analysis of the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS), one of the most commonly used measures of functional impairment in youths with emotional and behavioral disorders. Specific aims of the current investigation were to (a) examine the conceptual organization of the CAFAS items, (b) explore its scaling properties, and (c) investigate its construct validity. In Phase 1, a group of advanced graduate students and clinicians rated CAFAS items with respect to the degree that they reflect the originally assigned subscales. In Phase 2, additional raters assigned severity values to the subset of CAFAS items selected from Phase 1. Items were then scaled using simplified successive intervals scaling techniques. Results show differences between new empirically derived item weights and the original scoring method. This investigation highlights the benefits of continued examination and critique of level-of-functioning scaling for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology Program, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, Center for School-Based Youth Development, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9490, USA. mbates@education.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Furlong
authors.forename: Jennifer Greif
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile