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Screening and Assessment Tools for Child Welfare

Assessment Rating:
A
A – Reliability and Validity Demonstrated
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Ohio Youth Problems, Functioning, and Satisfaction Scales (Ohio Scales)

Developer(s):

Benjamin M. Ogles, PhD

Description / Purpose:

The Ohio Scales are instruments developed to measure outcomes for youth ages 5 to 18 who receive mental health services. The Short Forms of the Ohio Scales consist of 4 domains: the 20-item Functioning Scale, the 4-item Hopefulness Scale, the 4-item Satisfaction Scale, the 20-item Problem Severity Scale, and the Restrictiveness of Living Scale for agency workers.

Target Population: Children and adolescents ages 5 to 18 years with severe emotional and behavioral problems

Intended Users: Caregiver, youth, and agency worker

Time to Administer: 15 minutes

Completed By: Three separate forms for caregiver, youth, and agency worker. Caregiver and youth self-report forms contain all four content areas and the agency worker form substitutes the Hopefulness and Satisfaction Scales for the Restrictiveness of Living Scale.

Modalities Available: Handwritten

Scoring Information: Scoring tools and guidelines are available on the website. The reporter rates each item on a six-point scale, from zero “not at all” to five “all the time” in the last 30 days. Scoring is the sum of all items on the scale.

Languages Available: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish

Training Requirements for Intended Users: Minimal clinical training for agency workers, caregiver and youth are self-reported. Training video and other materials are available for download on the website.

Availability: Free for download on website for Ohio providers, however non-Ohio users must sign a licensing agreement and be charged a nominal fee for using measure.

Contact Information

Website: sites.google.com/site/ohioscales
Name: Benjamin M. Ogles, PhD
Email:
Phone: (801) 422-2083
Company: Office of Program Evaluation and Research, The Ohio Department of Mental Health
Website: mentalhealth.ohio.gov/what-we-do/protect-and-monitor/consumer-outcomes/instruments/index.shtml

Summary of Relevant Psychometric Research

This assessment has received the Assessment Rating of "A – Reliability and Validity Demonstrated" based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The assessment must have 2 or more published, peer-reviewed studies that demonstrated that the measure is reliable and valid. Please see the Assessment Rating Scale for more information.

Show relevant research...

Turchik, J. A., Karpenko, V., & Ogles, B. M. (2007). Further evidence of the utility and validity of a measure of outcome for children and adolescents. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 15(2), 119-128.

Sample:

Participants — 3,569 youth ages 5-18 receiving outpatient mental health services

Race/Ethnicity — 38% Caucasian, 37% Hispanic, 11% African American, 0.6% Native American, and 0.9% Asian American. The remaining percentage was unavailable due to missing data in youth self-reports.

Summary:

Convergent validity of the Ohio Scales was explored by examining the relationship between the scales and subscales’ scores generated by parents, agency workers, and youth of the Ohio Scales and Diagnostic and Statistics Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM–IV) diagnoses in a sample of 3,569 youth ages 5 to 18 across parent, agency worker, and youth reports. The Ohio Scales demonstrated evidence of convergent validity when predicted relationships between the scales and diagnoses were examined. The Ohio Scales also showed evidence of differentiating among broad diagnostic categories.

Dowell, K. A. & Ogles, B. M. (2008). The Ohio Scales Youth Form: Expansion and validation of a self-report outcome measure for young children. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 17(3), 291-305.

Sample:

Participants — 147 children receiving outpatient mental health services

Race/Ethnicity — 74% Caucasian, 22% African American, and the remaining 4% consisted of Native American or other minority

Summary:

The Ohio Scales Problem Severity Scale was administered to a clinical and comparison sample of children, ages 8–11, then re-administered 1 week later to a subsample of children in order to examine test-retest reliability. The Ohio Scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and reliability. The Ohio Scales was significantly correlated with the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)  across both samples, providing evidence for concurrent validity. Children of the clinical sample reported higher scores (i.e., more symptomatic) than the children of the comparison sample on the Ohio Scales, thereby demonstrating construct validity.

Ogles, B. M., Melendez, G., Davis, D. C., & Lunnen, K. M. (2001). The Ohio Scales: Practical outcome assessment. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 10(2), 199-212.

Sample:

Participants — 2,986 youth, parents, and agency workers

Race/Ethnicity — Not given

Summary:

The development and initial psychometric studies for the Ohio Scales are described. The Ohio Scales were developed to be practical yet rigorous, multi-content, multi-source measures of outcome for children and adolescents receiving mental health services. Initial studies suggest that the Ohio Scales are promising measures (reliable, valid, and sensitive to change) that can be used to track the effectiveness of mental health interventions for youth with serious emotional disorders. Additional studies are warranted to expand the situations and populations within which the scales are valid.

Date Reviewed: August 2011