ABSTRACT
The popularity and use of behavior rating scales as a method of assessing behavioral, social, and emotional problems and competencies of children and adolescents has increased dramatically since about the mid-1980s. Behavior rating scales are now employed frequently as a primary component of an assessment battery, as a key means of obtaining information on a child or adolescent before implementing an intervention, and as a tool for monitoring the effectiveness of interventions and programs. As behavior rating scales have become more widely used, there have been numerous advances in research on rating scale technology that have strengthened the desirability of using this form of assessment (Elliott, Busse, & Gresham, 1993; Merrell, 2000a, 2000b).
