Interpretation Problems With the BASC-3 SRP-A F Index for Patients With Depressive Disorders: An Initial Analysis and Proposal for Future Research

The Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 3rd edition (BASC-3) is a commonly used clinical assessment to evaluate a variety of behavioral and emotional concerns in children and adolescents. The focus of the current study is on the problematic interpretation of the F Index of the BASC-3 self-report measure for adolescents (SRP-A) suffering from depressive disorders. In this study, we used data from 214 patients in an adolescent partial hospitalization program within a psychiatric facility, all of whom were administered the BASC-3 SRP-A upon intake. Results suggest that the BASC-3 SRP-A F Index may confound an invalid response style of intentional overreporting with significant psychopathology in this specific psychiatric population. Our findings raise the question of similar confounding across psychiatric diagnoses and similar interpretation problems. We encourage further studies with independent samples of adolescents with a broad spectrum of diagnoses to address this question and offer a proposal if indeed there is evidence of a more generalized problem with the SRP-A F Index. Public Significance Statement This study demonstrates that adolescent patients diagnosed with depressive disorders produce significantly different response patterns to the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-3 self-report measure for adolescents F Index items than either of the original norm samples, resulting in an unusually high number of protocols with elevated F Index scores. Examination of F Index item endorsements suggests that base rates vary according to content that reflects symptoms expected in our patients. As such, the interpretation of an elevated F Index in this psychiatric sample is problematic because of the confounding of an overreporting response style with significant psychopathology.