Barkley Functional Impairment Scale (BFIS for Adults)

Review

"This tool fills a huge void in current psychological assessment practices--finally, we have a psychometrically sound, norm-referenced instrument to measure functional impairment in adults. The BFIS is conceptually sound, empirically derived, ecologically valid, highly reliable, and clinically useful. The ease of administration and interpretation is a major plus. This scale is a great asset for assessment of patients in any clinical or mental health setting. Kudos to Dr. Barkley for responding so keenly to a pressing need in our field."--Lawrence Lewandowski, PhD, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University"Clinicians and scholars agree that functional impairment is critical to the diagnosis of psychological disorders, as well as a major focus of intervention. But most measures of impairment lack evidence of psychometric quality. In contrast, the BFIS has impressive normative data and reliability and validity evidence. With this scale, clinicians can make confident judgments about how impaired a client is relative to the general population, leading to more informed decisions about prioritizing treatment goals. Graduate students taking courses in clinical assessment or rehabilitation counseling could learn much from the conceptual background and empirical data that Barkley offers. And clinical researchers now have a new tool to accurately quantify impairment when conducting studies with a range of populations. The BFIS helps to solve the long-standing problem of measuring how well someone functions in everyday life."--Benjamin J. Lovett, PhD, Department of Psychology, Elmira College

About the Author

"Clinicians and scholars agree that functional impairment is critical to the diagnosis of psychological disorders, as well as a major focus of intervention. But most measures of impairment lack evidence of psychometric quality. In contrast, the BFIS has impressive normative data and reliability and validity evidence. With this scale, clinicians can make confident judgments about how impaired a client is relative to the general population, leading to more informed decisions about prioritizing treatment goals. Graduate students taking courses in clinical assessment or rehabilitation counseling could learn much from the conceptual background and empirical data that Barkley offers. And clinical researchers now have a new tool to accurately quantify impairment when conducting studies with a range of populations. The BFIS helps to solve the long-standing problem of measuring how well someone functions in everyday life."--Benjamin J. Lovett, PhD, Department of Psychology, Elmira College