Assessing the African American child and adolescent: Special considerations and assessment of behavioral disorders
editThis chapter will examine some of the most common methods for assessing behavioral disorders in African American youth. While it is acknowledged that the assessment of the disorders can be accomplished using interview methods, behavioral observation, and rating scales, this chapter focuses on the latter. Behavior rating scales provide a cost-effective approach for assessing behavioral problems and have been developed to cover a broad range of problems, behaviors, as well as strengths. Before reviewing these assessment tools, we begin the chapter with a brief discussion of cultural factors that should be considered in the assessment of behavioral disorders.