Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS – II)

By
Sana Ali
Momina Mirza
Hajra Khan
Sana Ali
 Overview

 Sara S. Sparrow, Domenic V. Cicchetti, and David A. Balla developed the Vineland
Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd edition (VABS-II) in 2005.
 The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (VABS – II) is a
standardized assessment tool that utilizes semi structured interview to measure
adaptive behavior.
 It is a diagnostic tool that helps in measuring the capabilities of both children
and adults in dealing with everyday life (i.e., communication skills, motor skills,
functionalities needed in everyday life, and socialization).
 Overview

 Purpose: To measure personal and social skills needed for everyday living.
 Publisher: Pearson
 Age Range: Birth to 90 years
 Administration: Paper-and-pencil
 Time to Administer: 20 – 90 minutes.
 Qualification Level: Graduate / Post – graduate qualification.
 Scoring Option: ASSIST™ software or Manual Scoring
 History of the Vineland
Vineland Social Maturity Scale Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales
(1935 & 1965) (1984 ; 2005 ; 2008 ; 2016)

Edgar Doll Sara Sparrow, David Balla, & Domenic

Doll’s perspective on adaptive behavior
was that it is developmental,
multidimensional
Adaptive behavior is best assessed using a most reliable method of obtaining
3rd party informant (parent/caregiver
rather than the individual)
Cicchetti)
Education for All Handicapped
Children Act of 1975 (now IDEA).
Included domains: Socialization,
Communication, Daily Living Skills,
Motor Skills.
accurate information on adaptive
behavior is through a semi-structured
interview with a parent or caregiver.
 Uses of the Vineland – II Survey forms

Diagnostic Evaluation
o Well suited for the diagnosis and evaluation of mental retardation.
o Clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, genetic disorders,
developmental delays, emotional and behavioral disturbances as well as other
mental, physical or injury related conditions.
o Developmental Evaluations: Measures young children’s development.
 Progress Monitoring: Provides in depth assessment of the individual’s current level
of functioning.
 Program Planning: Facilitate in selecting the most suitable type of program for the
individual
 Adaptive Behavior

Operational Definition
 “The performance of daily activities required for personal and Social
sufficiency”.
 Four important principles:
1. Adaptive behavior is age related.
2. Adaptive behavior is evaluated in a social context
3. Adaptive behavior is modifiable.
4. Adaptive behavior is defined by typical performance, not by ability.
 Structure
Four Forms
 Survey Interview Form
 Expanded Interview Form
 Parent / Care giver Rating Form
 Teacher Rating Form

 These forms assess the four broad domain areas: communication, daily living
skills, socialization and motor skills.
 In addition there is an optional scale that measures maladaptive behaviors
 Structure

 The four domain composite scores (communication, daily living

skills, socialization and motor skills) then combine to form the
adaptive behavior composite for those individuals aged birth to
6 years 11 months.

 Three domain composite scores (communication, daily living

skills and socialization) combine to form the adaptive behavior
composite for those aged 7 through 90.
 Domains

The Vineland-II consists of 5 domains each with subdomains.

Domains What it measures?
Communication How an individual speaks, understands others, and uses
written language
Daily Living Skills The practical skills and behaviors that are need to take care
of oneself
Motor Skills How the individual uses arms, legs, hands, and fingers for
movement, coordination, and to manipulate objects.
Socialization The skills and behaviors that are needed to get along with
others and for use in free time activities
Maladaptive Behavior Measure of undesirable behaviors that may interferes with
adaptive behaviors
Domains Subdomains
Communication • Receptive,
• Expressive
• Written
Daily Living Skills • Personal
• Domestic
• Community
Motor Skills • Interpersonal Relationships
• Play and Leisure time
• Coping Skills

Socialization • Fine
• Gross
Maladaptive Behavior • Internalizing
(Optional) • Externalizing
• Other
Communication Domain: Daily Living Skills Domain

Receptive: How the individual Personal: How the individual eats,

listens and pays attention and what dresses, and practices personal
he or she understands. hygiene.

Expressive: What the individual Domestic: What household tasks

says, how he or she uses word and the individual performs.
sentences to gather and provide
information. Community: How the individual
uses time, money, the telephone,
Written: What the individual the computer, and job skills.
understands about how letters
make words, and what he or she
read and writes.
Socialization Domain: Motor Skills Domain

Interpersonal Relationships: How Gross Motor: How the individual

the individual interacts with others. uses arms and legs for movement
and coordination.
Play and Leisure Time: How the
individual plays and uses leisure Fine Motor: How the individual
time. uses hands and fingers to
manipulate objects.
Coping skills: How the individual
demonstrates responsibility and
sensitivity to others.
Maladaptive Behavior Domain (Optional)

Maladaptive Behavior Index: A composite of Internalizing, Externalizing and

other types of undesirable behavior that may interfere with the individual’s
adaptive functioning.

Maladaptive Behavior Critical Items: More severe maladaptive behaviors that

may provide clinically important information.

Adaptive Behavior Composite: A composite of the communication, daily living

skills, socialization, and motor skills domains
 Administration
 Semi structured Interview Format
o Does not require the participation of the individual whose adaptive behavior
is being assessed, but only requires a respondent who is familiar with the
individual’s behaviors.
o Produce a valid measure of day to day activities and allow for the
assessment of the individuals who cannot perform on command.
o Open ended nature – elicit more information than does the rating scale
(Goldstein, 1987).
 Provides the depth of accurate information obtained about the individual’s
level of functioning.
 Administration

 Rating Scale Format

o “Third party” method of administration requires a respondent

who is familiar with the behavior of the individual to rate

checklist of the individual’s skills.
o Provides needed flexibility when a face to face interview is not
practical or needed.
o May result in biased rating by the respondent.
 General Procedures for Administration
 Decide which form to administer  Motor Skills Domains –
 Computing Chronological Age appropriate for individual without

 Select the Respondents disabilities through age 6.

 Maladaptive Behavior Domain -
 Establishing Rapport
When problem behaviors may be
 Decide whether or not to include
interfering with the adaptive
the optional Motor Skills (above
behavior of an individual aged 3
age 6) and Maladaptive Behavior years or older.
Domain.
Momina Mirza
 Administration: Survey Interview Form

Vineland-II Survey Interview Form:

● Provides a targeted assessment of adaptive behavior.

● You administer the survey to a parent/caregiver using a semi-structured

interview format.

● The test has open ended questions which help make in-depth inquiries and

create a good interviewer ,interviewee rapport.

 Interviewers must have graduate-level education in psychology or social work

as well as in individual assessment and test interpretation.

 Interviewer must thoroughly study the Vineland-II survey forms Manual before

administering it.

 Items =383 (comm.=99;DLS =109; Social=99;Motor =76)

 Administration time is 40-60 minutes.

 Administration : Expanded Interview Form

Vineland-II- Expanded Interview Form:

● Provides an detail alternative to survey Interview form with more items.

Particularly suitable for ages 0-5 or to help facilitate detailed program Planning

for low functioning individuals

● No of Items = 500+

● Administration Time = 60 to 90 minutes.

 Administration: Parent / Caregiver Rating Form

Vineland-II- Parent/Caregiver Rating Form:

● Although the content is same as the of Survey Interview ,but a rating scale format
is used.
● This work when time or access is limited.
● The Parent/Caregiver form is a great tool for progress monitoring.
● Survey Interview form should be used on the initial assessment and progress will
be tracked with the help of Parent/Caregiver rating Form.
● No of items = 383 (Comm.=99, DLS =109, Social=99, Motor = 76)
● Administration time: 40-60 minutes
Administering the Parent/Caregiver rating Form:
● Establish Rapport with Parents.
● Review the form with parent so he/she understands how to complete it.

● Explain Instructions:

○ “Please read the direction and mark a rating for every item in each section
after start point circled or highlighted.”

○ “The items on this form cover a wide range. (Childs name) is not expected
to have all the skill described by all the items”
o “Mark the rating that best describes How often the individual performs the
behavior when it is needed, Not whether the individual can perform the
behavior”.
o Mark “2” if individual “Usually” performs the behavior w/out help or
reminders; mark “1” if individual “sometimes performs” the behavior w/out
help or reminders; mark “0” if the individual “never” or “rarely performs” the
behavior or never performs it w/out help or reminders.
o Mark “2” if the individual doesn’t perform a behavior because he/she has
outgrown it.
 Administration: Teacher Rating Form

Vineland-II teacher Rating Form:

● Assesses adaptive behavior for student in preschool, or a structured day care

setting.

● This form is in questionnaire format and is completed by teacher or day care

provider.

● The Teacher Rating form covers the same domain as the survey form but

contains content a teacher would observe in a classroom setting.

● The questions are targeted and comprehensive, helping you to evaluate a

students working in a single or combination of domain.

● An Adaptive Behavior Composite score is provided when all four domains are

administered

● No. of Items =223 (Comm=67, DLS=57, Social=60, Motor=39)

● Administration time is 30 -40 minutes.

Hajra Khan
 Scoring

● Items are grouped by domains and subdomains.

● Each item describes one observable behavior.
● It is rated how common the subject performs the behavior listed
--- 2 (usually)
--- 1 (sometimes/partially)
--- 0 (never)
--- DK (don’t know)
 Scoring

●Identify the basal items and ceiling items.

oBasal = 4 consecutive score of 2
oBasal item = highest score in set of 4 consecutive 2.
oCeiling = 4 consecutive scores of 0.
oCeiling item = lowest item in set of 4 scores of 0.
●Compute the number of DK/missing items.
oif one item is marked DK and one item is not scored, the total is 2. If the total for a subdomain
is greater than 2, then that subdomain cannot be scored. When a subdomain cannot be scored
because the total of items scored DK or not scored is greater than 2.
●Compute the number of N/Os.
●Compute the sum of scores on items scored 2s and 1s.
●Calculate the subdomain raw score.
 Interpretation

Derived score
o Raw scores need to be converted to normative or derived scores with
uniform meaning from age to age and from subdomain to subdomain.
Six different normative scores are: standard scores, v-scale scores,
percentile ranks, adaptive levels and age equivalents.

● Standard score for domains and adaptive behavior composite score.

○ describes an individual’s overall functioning. It relates one person's

performance to the performance of a pertinent reference group. In the
case of the Vineland-II, this reference group consists of other individuals
of the same age.
 Interpretation

● V-scale score
o describes an individual's relative level of functioning on the subdomains. V-scale
scores are related to the scaled scores of many other tests.

● Percentile ranks.

○ Regardless of the domain or the age of the individual, percentile ranks convey
the same meaning: the percentage of people whom the individual outperformed
in his or her age group.
○ For example, a 15-year-old who scores in the 84th percentile in the Socialization
Domain performed better than 84 percent of other 15-year-olds on that domain.
 Interpretation

● Adaptive levels

○ descriptive categories used by

the Vineland 2 describe levels
of adaptive performance in the
domains and subdomains.
○ Scores can be described using
the adaptive levels of High,
Moderately High, Adequate,
Moderately Low and Low.
 Interpretation

● Age equivalent
○ age equivalents indicate the age level at which the average person in the
population performs the same as the individual who is being assessed.

● Results can be described by adaptive levels and maladaptive levels.

● Describes performance in all domains and their sub-domains.
● Because it is a norm-based instrument, the examinee's adaptive functioning
is compared to that of others his or her age.
 Strengths

● Addresses today’s special needs of population such as individuals with

intellectual and developmental disabilities, ADHD and autism.
● Offers both semi structured interview which focuses discussion and
convenient rating forms.
● Useful for diagnosis, programs and treating plan and research.
● improved items, expanded age.
● Excellent internal reliability and test-retest reliability.
● Larging norming sample.
 Weaknesses

● Overlap among various domains; both communication and daily living

domains containing questions about child’s language ability.
● Is only available in English and Spanish.
● Can have biased results from outside observer.