The validity of the Supports Intensity Scale for adults with psychiatric disabilities.
The SIS is valid for adults with psychiatric disabilities and explains about half the variance in needed supports.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Arnkelsson et al. (2014) tested if the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) works for adults with psychiatric disabilities. They ran a large U.S. study and checked how well SIS scores matched real-life support needs.
The team looked at how much of the variance in needed supports the SIS could explain.
What they found
The SIS explained about half of the variance in support needs—roughly 48 to 51 percent. That is strong validity for this group.
In plain words, if you give the SIS to an adult with a psychiatric disability, the score will give you a solid picture of how much help that person needs.
How this fits with other research
Earlier studies already showed the SIS works for adults with intellectual disability. Johnson et al. (2009) found SIS scores lined up with clinician rankings. Chou et al. (2013) showed the same scale can guide resource-allocation decisions for that group.
Rispoli et al. (2011) tried the SIS with adults who have physical disabilities. They saw weaker links between SIS scores and everyday skills. The new psychiatric study found stronger validity than the physical-disability study, so the tool looks sharper for psychiatric needs.
No contradictions here—just different validity strength across disability types.
Why it matters
If you assess adults with psychiatric disabilities, you can trust the SIS to quantify support needs. Use the total score to justify hours for job coaching, residential help, or day-program funding. One concrete step: add the SIS to your intake battery and link each subdomain score to the exact supports you recommend.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) was developed for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we argue for its applicability for people with psychiatric disabilities. Previous empirical evidence for the criterion-related validity of SIS for this population is limited, based on only two studies with participants from the same Mexican state. In a nationwide study we found that SIS explained between 48 and 51% of the variance in the dependent measure, indicating very good validity. The profile of individual support needs showed sensitivity to activities relatively specific to people with psychiatric disabilities, further indicating the validity of the scale. Overall, we find SIS to be valid and appropriate instrument for assessing the support needs of this population.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.09.006