| Utilizing a sample of individuals with mild and moderate severity levels of mental retardation (N = 30), the present study examined the relationship between performance on a well regarded measure of adaptive behavior, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS), and a new measure, the Functional Assessment of Individuals with Brain Injury (FAIBI), for the purpose of establishing construct validity of the FAIBI as an effective measure of adaptive behavior. The FAIBI consists of seven subtests (Dilemmas, Face Recognition, Transportation, Supermarket, Medication, Mapping, and Scheduling), each of which requires the execution of certain common activities of daily living. It was proposed that the FAIBI will be an important addition to the assessment of adaptive behavior in individuals with mental retardation because it is administered directly with the individual who is being assessed, unlike most other measures of adaptive behavior which are conducted as interviews with a guardian or staff member. Additionally, the FAIBI is an interactive measure which requires respondents to perform the adaptive skills under study in ecologically relevant scenarios. Pearson product-moment correlations were conducted to examine the convergent validity between some FAIBI subtests and VABS domain scores. Additionally, Hotelling's t tests were performed on the discriminant validity correlations to determine whether they were significantly different than relevant positive correlations, in order to statistically establish the discriminant validity of the FAIBI. The data demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity between the FAIBI and the VABS. As such, the FAIBI should be considered an ecologically valid measure of adaptive behavior that can be used to enhance the information attained through the VABS. Suggestions for further research to establish the reliability and validity of the FAIBI on a larger scale are provided. |
