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Child assessment practices have undergone, and are continuing to undergo, significant changes. Among the most prominent changes is the movement toward measuring child well-being, in general, and emotional and behavioral strengths, in particular. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) is a strength-based instrument which is widely used in the United States and is beginning to be used internationally. The purpose of this review was to assess the translation adaptation process and to determine the psychometric properties of the BERS scores when used in countries other than the United States. Results from 15 international studies indicated that the researchers followed acceptable standards for test adaptation and the BERS scores generally met acceptable professional standards for reliability and validity. The limitations with the review process and the published studies were identified, as well as the directions for future research and implications for professional practice.

When rating scales are used in different countries, thorough investigation of the psychometric properties is needed. We examined the internal structure of the Finnish translated Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2) using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis approaches with a sample of youth, parents, and teachers. The results suggested that the Finnish translated BERS-2 has acceptable measurement properties and is suitable for use in Finnish schools. Results highlighted the issue that there is a need to consider cross-cultural aspects when introducing new measures in another culture. Directions for future research are also discussed in light of present findings.

This study investigated the cross-informant agreement among student self-report, teacher report, and parent report on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire translated into Finnish (SDQ-Fin) and estimated mean convergent and divergent correlations with a sample of fifth-grade Finnish students (N = 588) and the cross-informant agreement among student-teacher-parent informants separately for those with and without special education support. In addition, the study estimated the within-rater stabilities of SDQ subscales for students with and without special education support between two measurements at a one year interval. The cross-informant agreement on SDQ-Fin subscales was moderate with cross-informant correlations ranging from 0.12 to 0.42. The cross-informant agreement between teachers and students was in general higher for students with special education (SE) support than students without special education (NSE) support. The mean convergent correlations were higher than the mean divergent correlations across raters. The rater stabilities of SDQ subscales for NSE students and SE students between fifth and sixth grade as indicated by stability correlations were all statistically significant. Our findings provide additional evidence of the usefulness of the SDQ in school environments, and underline the importance of a multi-informant approach to the evaluation of emotional and behavioral problems.

In previous research the Finnish version of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (Epstein, 2004) has demonstrated adequate internal consistency and reliability. The purpose of the present study was to examine the convergent validity of the Finnish BERS-2 by comparing it with the Finnish version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, with teachers and parents as the raters. The results add to the research base to suggest that the Finnish BERS-2 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the emotional and behavioral strengths of children and youth.

Multiple informants such as teachers, students, and parents are commonly used as sources of information when assessing students' behaviors and emotions. However, there are few studies about cross informant agreement of strength-based assessment. The purpose of this study was to extend the international research on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS-2), a strength-based measure, to determine the cross informant agreement and convergent validity between student self-report and teacher report on the Finnish BERS-2 with a sample of 5th grade Finnish students (n=275). The results of this study found that the Finnish BERS-2 possesses moderate to large cross informant agreement with coefficients ranging from 0.35 to 0.51. Consistency between student and teacher ratings shows that the Finnish BERS-2 is a reliable measure to assess students' strengths. (Contains 2 tables.)

The assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths has been identified as an important part of the assessment process for children referred for specialized services. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2; Epstein, Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: a strength-based approach to assessment. PRO-Ed, Austin, TX, 2004) was developed as a standardized, norm-referenced instrument to measure strengths of children and youth, and has been found to be a psychometrically sound instrument. We determined the psychometric characteristics of the BERS-2 with a Finnish sample. The BERS-2 was translated in Finnish and 608 Finnish 9th graders filled in the self-evaluation. Results showed that the five subscales of BERS-2 have good reliability and formed a strong strength index. In general, females scored higher than males and special education students scored lower than non-special education students. This study suggests that the translated version of BERS-2 is a valid and reliable instrument in Finland.