Reliability and validity of an assessment instrument for anxiety, depression, and mood among individuals with mental retardation.
The ADAMS gives BCBAs a reliable five-factor mood screen built for people with intellectual disability.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new mood checklist for people with intellectual disability. They called it the ADAMS.
They checked if the questions hang together, if two raters score the same, and if scores stay stable over time.
What they found
The ADAMS passed every test. It shows five clear mood factors: anxiety, depression, anger, mania, and social avoidance.
Raters agreed, scores stayed steady, and the five-factor pattern held up.
How this fits with other research
Putnam et al. (2003) tried two older tools, MMPI-168 and ADD, in the same ID group. Those tools gave shaky, mismatched results. The ADAMS now gives the clean factors those tools missed.
Madden et al. (2003) released the GAS-ID the same year. GAS-ID targets only anxiety in mild ID, while ADAMS covers five mood areas across all ID levels. Use GAS-ID for a quick anxiety peek; use ADAMS for a full mood screen.
Vassos et al. (2023) later trimmed mood screening to one factor with the SED-S. If you need a fast single score, grab the SED-S; if you want detail on each mood slice, stay with ADAMS.
Why it matters
You now have a solid five-factor mood screener for clients who can’t always name their feelings. Start your intake with the ADAMS to spot anxiety, depression, or mania early, then track those factor scores as you run behavior plans or med reviews.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A review of the literature revealed that there was no adequate assessment instrument available that screens comprehensively for anxiety and depression in persons with mental retardation. The purpose of this research was to develop the Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Scale (ADAMS), an instrument intended to fill this gap. We developed a preliminary rating scale that included 55 symptom items. We examined the factor structure of these items by an exploratory factor analysis of behavior ratings on 265 individuals. A five-factor solution emerged that was both statistically sound and clinically meaningful. These factors were labeled "Manic/Hyperactive Behavior," "Depressed Mood," "Social Avoidance," "General Anxiety" and "Compulsive Behavior." We validated this solution by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis on ratings of 268 additional individuals. Model fit was acceptable. Internal consistency of the subscales and retest reliability for both the total scale and the subscales was high. Interrater reliability was satisfactory. The validity of the ADAMS was assessed with a clinical sample of 129 individuals with mental retardation who were seen in a psychiatric clinic; this provided additional support for the subscales. The ADAMS appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument for screening anxiety, depression and mood disorders among individuals with mental retardation.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2003 · doi:10.1023/b:jadd.0000005999.27178.55