The reading grade level of common measures in child and adolescent clinical psychology.
The purpose of this article is to provide easily accessible readability information for 49 parent- and 35 child- and adolescent-report measures commonly used by clinicians and researchers. There is a great deal of variability in reading ability required across measures. The majority of parent-report measures (65%) required reading ability above the 8th grade level. The average child-/adolescent-report measure required reading ability above the 6th grade level. Given the potential contribution of readability to a measure's reliability, validity, and overall utility, examining and accounting for readability should be a more common practice in test construction and administration.
Jensen
Scott A
SA
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Fabiano
Gregory A
GA
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Lopez-Williams
Andy
A
Department of Psychology, West Virginia University.
Chacko
Anil
A
0000-0002-3275-4726
Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000379:methods*; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000379:methods*; D011586:Psychology, Clinical / Q000379:methods*; D011932:Reading; D012647:Self-Assessment