Validity and Reliability of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (2nd Edition): Youth Rating Scale

Objective: This article reports findings of three studies addressing convergent validity and test-retest reliability of the Youth Rating Scale of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-Second Edition (BERS-2). Method: Pearson product-moment correlations were used in all three studies, the first two addressing convergent validity and the third addressing test-retest reliability. Results: Analysis indicated that (a) the six BERS-2 subscales and overall strength index were generally highly positively correlated with the social skills composite score from the Social Skills Rating System-Student Form (Secondary Level, Grades 7 to 12), (b) the BERS-2 subscales and strength index were generally moderately negatively correlated with the Problem scales of Achenbach’s Youth Self-Report, and (c) test-retest reliability coefficients over a 1-week period were all above .80. Conclusions: Results provide evidence that the BERS-2 Youth Rating Scale has acceptable psychometric properties and may be considered for use by social work practitioners in assessment and intervention activities.