The development and validation of a scale to assess the emotional and behavioral strengths of children and adolescents

Strength-based assessment has received considerable attention from parents and professionals in child welfare. family services, education, mental heal th. and other social services. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: A Strength-Based Approach to Assessment was developed to provide parents and professionals with a standardized norm-referenced, reliable, and valid ins trument to measure strengths. Several pilot studies were conducted to estab lish the validity of the scale prior to The scale being normed on a nationa lly representative sample. The purpose of the present article is to report on these validity studies.