The Kids’ Behavior in Context Scales (KICS) I: Teacher, Caregiver, and Youth Views on Needs and Goals for Intervention

Abstract

Adults (e.g., caregivers, teachers) play a key role in youth mental health services, even as the perspectives of youth themselves are also critical to intervention success. Prior studies indicate that caregivers and youth frequently disagree on the rationale for the interventions youth receive (i.e., needs for intervention) and the plan for achieving intervention success (i.e., goals for intervention). Yet, all previous work is based on clinic samples. None have included the perspectives of teachers. We developed the Kids’ Behavior in Context Scales (KICS) to assess the contexts in which youth needs and goals manifest, which requires psychometrically sound procedures for detecting needs and goals. A school-based sample of 173 sixth- to eighth-grade youth, their caregivers, and their teachers each identified needs for intervention (e.g., aggression, anxiety, inattention), as well as goals for intervention (e.g., controlling impulses, building healthy relationships, relaxation). We observed low levels of between-informant agreement on needs and goals for intervention, with kappas ranging from .01 to .11. For only 2% of youth, all three informants endorsed the same pair of needs and goals. The KICS reveals that informant disagreements occur more frequently in school-based assessments relative to other service environments (e.g., hospitals, community mental health clinics).