APSD™

Parents and teachers rate the child on a dimensional scale that probes interpersonal, affective, and behavioral traits. The normative-based APSD–Combined form (APSD–C) allows you to integrate and reconcile responses from parents and teachers after they have completed the APSD–Parent (APSD–P) and the APSD–Teacher (APSD–T) forms. Each form takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Reliability

Reliability of the APSD has been found throughout its development and includes:

• Internal consistency, interrater reliability, and test-retest reliability
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
• Discriminant validity and scale intercorrelations
• Associations between DSM-IV^™ symptoms and APSD dimensions

Validity

Additionally, several controlled experimental studies demonstrating the APSD's validity have been conducted. The areas of research covered include:

• Reward Dominance, examining the association between a reward-dominant response style and anxiety, conduct problems, and psychopathy in children
• Moral/Conventional Distinction, using a moral distinction task to compare children with or without psychopathic tendencies
• Psychophysiological Responsiveness to Distress, examining the psychophysiological responsiveness of children with psychopathic tendencies to distress cues and threatening stimuli

The normative samples consisted of 1,120 nonreferred and nonadjudicated elementary school children from the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh grades.