Author Description

The YABCL has 107 items that describe specific behavioral and emotional problems. Parents and others rate the young adult for how true each item is now or was within the past six months using the following scale: 0 = not true (as far as you know); 1 = somewhat or sometimes true; 2 = very true or often true. In addition, 13 socially desirable items are rated, and space is also provided for responses to two open-ended items covering physical and other problems, plus anything else the respondent wants to report about the young adult. These questionnaires are designed to provide standardized descriptions of behavior, feelings, thoughts, and competencies rather than diagnoses per se. The YABCL has 109 problem items and 11 competence items that are scored on 3-step scales. Eight syndromes are derived from the items on the YABCL, including 2 designated as Internalizing (Anxious/Depressed, Withdrawn) and 3 designated as Externalizing (Aggressive, Delinquent, and Intrusive Behavior). Reliability on the YABCL averages 0.85 across syndromes and Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales (P.001). Validity has been demonstrated by showing significantly higher scores for subjects referred for mental health services than for matched nonreferred subjects.36–38 For the 8 syndrome scales, the 95th percentile is considered the borderline clinical cutoff and the 98th percentile the clinical cutoff on the basis of a nonreferred population. For the problem scales (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems), the 83rd percentile is considered the borderline clinical cutoff and the 90th percentile the clinical cutoff.33.