Validation of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale in Arabic Language within a Palestinian Context
Date
2019-06-16
Authors
Abd El Qadir, Ciwar
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
جامعة النجاح الوطنية
Abstract
Today there is an emerging need for psychological assessment instruments
which can be used within and across cultures and countries. The purpose of
this investigation was to determine whether an Arabic version of the
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale–II (VABS-II) can be employed to
measure adaptive behaviors of children in the Palestinian context. This was
a non-experimental study design with a convenient sample looking at the
correlation of the scores on the two tests domains; VABS-II and Portage
scale domains. Two samples of participants were analyzed; a convenient
sample was compiled with a total of 56 male and female children (ages 2-9)
including a group of high-risk children who were referred to a local multi service center for neuro-developmental concerns (N = 26). The control
group consisted of children attending a local private elementary school in
northern West Bank territories (N = 30). Results showed that in the five
developmental domains tested (Cognition, Communication, Socialization,
Motor Skills, and Independent Living Skills) there were significant
differences in some domains among the control group. Slight differences
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were noted in the areas of cognition and motor skills for some sub-groups
possibly related to differences in the scope of tasks utilized in each test.
However, there were no significant differences among the high-risk group.
The implication of these findings is that the Arabic version of VABS-II is
an appropriate scale for assessing adaptive and maladaptive behaviors in a
Palestinian context as it meets the standard of previously validated
measures while adding scales of interest not available in the Portage,
including an overall Adaptive Behavior Scale, a Maladaptive Behavior
Scale, standardized T-Scores, and comprehensive full age standardized
scales for ages birth to 90. Further investigation needs to be explored to
assess the VABS-II efficiency in older and younger populations not
included in this study