Basic tests/assessments to start out with

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Hi!
I've been given the opportunity to select new testing and assessment instruments and supplies for the agency where I work. It's a nonprofit, so I'm trying to buy just the basic stuff needed to be able to function in a general outpatient practice. Nothing fancy or over the top. They have nothing right now, but they do get referrals for adult, adolescent, and child testing.

Suggestions?
 
MMPI, MMPI-A, WAIS, WISC, WMS, MCMI, BAI, BDI, RBANS (or some other short neuropsych battery), WIAT, ADHD rating scales
 
Good start.

Here are some free screeners that may or may not apply to your population:

Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
St. Louis University Mental Status Exam (SLUMS)

I'm not wild about the SLUMS, but for a free measure it isn't bad.
 
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I am personally partial to the MOCA since the MMSE is now copyrighted. It has a clock-drawing task that is sensitive to mild cognitive impairment, so for me that gives it an edge. You may want to blow up the visual material for older adults, however!
 
St. Louis University Mental Status Exam (SLUMS)
Click to expand...
They named their measure SLUMS? Really? This calls for:


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the be honest...the Woodcock-Johnson tests have always made me giggle a little......:laugh:
 
Apparently there's also a test with an acronym BIDET, but no one calls it that. For an obvious reason. 😉
 
erg923 said:
the be honest...the Woodcock-Johnson tests have always made me giggle a little......:laugh:
Click to expand...

I can only assume they named it such solely to get a laugh. I mean come on....they HAD to know!
 
It is hard to know what measures to select without knowing more about what population your clinic treats and why people are referred to it.

HOWEVER...that said, there is a shocking lack of attention in the field to TRAUMA, especially among young children. Whether you look at adults, black people, white people, men, or women, there tends to be an extremely high prevalence of exposure to traumatic and stressful events -- domestic violence, community violence, sexual and physical abuse, neglect, arrest/jailing of a family member, drug use in a family member, etc.

I work with very young children and the amount of trauma they've been exposed to is high, and this ends up affecting their performance on all sorts of socioemotional, cognitive and behavioral tests. A child who is elevated on the CBCL or who can't sit still or who does weird things...that might be for a "good" reason, in other words, rooted in real experiences with trauma and stress.

The point is: SCREEN FOR TRAUMA. Look into the TESI--PRR (Traumatic Events Screening Inventory), and maybe throw in a TSCYC (Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children) for children; for adults, try the LSC (Life Stressors Checklist) and maybe a Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS).

People will not always tell you their trauma history right off the bat, either because they don't think it's relevant or because they are not asked. But it is up to a good psychologist to learn about their client's trauma history...it's too important to ignore.
 
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