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Vineland%20Adaptive%20Behavior%20Scales,%20second%20edition%20(Vineland-II)
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Vineland?Adaptive?Behavior?Scales?2nd?Edition

Classification
Supplemental: Epilepsy, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Short Description of Instrument
Description:
 
The VABS-II measures personal and social skills needed in an individual's everyday life. There are five domains: Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization, Motor Skills, and Maladaptive Behavior Index (optional domain). Each of the domains has 2-3 sub-domains. The measure includes four forms: survey interview, parent/caregiver rating, expanded interview and teacher rating.
 
Permissible Values:
 
Standard scores with mean = 100, SD = 15, percentile ranks, adaptive levels are provided for Domains (Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization and Motor Skills), and Adaptive Behavior Composite. Subdomains are scored with a V-scale score (mean= 15, SD = 3), adaptive levels, and age equivalents. Optional scales assessing Maladaptive Behaviors are also available.
 
Procedure:
 
Administration is by semi-structured interview or paper and pencil. The test takes between 20 and 60 minutes.
 
Comments:
 
This instrument may be used from birth to 90 years.
 
TBI Rationale:
 
"The VABS-II and the original VABS have established evidence of reliability and validity and have been used in many pediatric TBI studies primarily for studying long-term sequelae, family functioning, and school adaptation. The VABS-II can be used with a broad age range of individuals (infancy to 89 years) and test procedures (i.e., age range allows for establishing accurate basal level) and is useful when working with low cognitive functioning populations such as those with severe TBI." - McCauley et al. 2012
Rationale/Justification
Psychometric Properties:
 
Reliability: Overall, the split-half subdomain internal reliability of subdomains and doman scores are moderate to high with 75% having a value of 0.75 or greater, with greater reliabilities observed in children and individuals aged 72 to 90. Reliability of domain and daptive Behavior Composite scores were very high, with most being in the upper 0.80s to low 0.90s. Interinterviewer Reliability are moderate (.70 for subdomains and .72 for Adaptive Behavior Composite)
 
Validity of scales: Validity assessment demonstrates little to no bias based on gender, age, socioeconomic status or ethnic group difference. Assessment of validity of test structure demonstrates moderate correlations between subdomains within a domain, though there is evidence of modest correlations between domains. Loading of subdomain on their related factors were all moderately high and loading of first order factors were very high on the Adaptive Behavior Composite.
 
Relationships to other variables: Correlation between VABS-II and WISC-III was low, modest correlations were obtained between VABS-II domains and related subdomains on the BASC-2 Adaptive Scales.
 
Strengths and weaknesses:
 
Strengths: Provides assessment of adaptive functioning across a broad range of ages and ability levels and provides more sensitivity for use in populations with more severe impairment than other measures of adaptive functioning. This instrument is widely used and accepted as a reliable measure of adaptive functioning and it is particularly useful in longitudinal studies to assess change in adaptive function over time. Validated in other langauges including Spanish, Vietnamese and Dutch. Validated for use in a range of clinical populations including those with intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, learning disability, emotional/behavioral disturbance and hearing and visual impairment.
 
Weaknesses: It is lengthier than some other measures of adaptive functioning
 
Specific to Mitochondrial Disease:
 
Advantages: Given the broad sensitivity across ages and ability levels, this would be a particularly useful instrument for use in mitochondrial disease populations where phenotype can be markedly variable. Age equivalent scores, rather than standard scores, may be particularly useful in comparing performance across domains in severely affected populations (Delaney et al., 2013)
Vineland scores were shown to differentiate children with mitochondrial disorder and ASD from children with ASD alone in one study (Frye et al, 2013).
 
Limitations: Does not provide a self-report format
Scoring
Individual items are rated on a scale of 0 (never performs skill independently) to 2 (Often performs skill independently). Item scores within a subdomain are totaled and raw scores are transformed to v-Scale Scores (mean = 15, SD = 3). V-Scale scores of subdomains are then totaled and transformed to Domain scores (mean = 100, SD = 15). Domain scores are totaled and transformed to an Adaptive Behavior Composite (mean = 100, SD = 15).
 
Requires 15 to 30 minutes to score and interpret. If the measure is administered as a paper and pencil caregiver rating, the examiner will also need to spend additional time reviewing the responses and clarifying information with the informant. Computer scoring is available.
References
Sparrow, S., Cicchetti, D., and Balla, D. (2005). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second edition. AGS Publishing: Circle Pines, MN.
 
Sparrow, S., Cicchetti, D., and Balla, D. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. American Guidance: Circle Pines, MN.
 
Delaney, K.A., Rudser, K.R., Yund, B.D., Whitley, C.A., Haslett, P.A.J., and Shapiro, E.G. (2014). Methods of Neurodevelopmental Assessment with Neurodegenerative Disease: Sanfilippo Syndrome. JIMD Reports 13, 129-137
 
De Bildt, A., Kraijer, D., Sytema, S., Minderan, R. (2005). The Psychometric Properties of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior
Scales in Children and Adolescents with Mental Retardation Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders: 35, 53-62.
 
Frye, R.E., DeLaTorre, R., Taylor, H., Slattery, J., Melnyk, S., Chowdhury, N. and James, S.J. (2013) Redox metabolism abnormalities in autistic children associated with mitochondrial disease. Transl. Psychiatry 3(6)
 
Document last updated March 2024