Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale – Second Edition (BERS-2)

The BERS-2 measures personal strengths and competencies in children 5-18. The BERS-2 is a multi-modal assessment system that measures the child's behavior from three perspectives: the child (Youth Rating Scale), parent (Parent Rating Scale), and teacher or other professional (Teacher Rating Scale). The BERS-2 measures six aspects of a child's strength: interpersonal strength, involvement with family, intrapersonal strength, school functioning, affective strength, and career strength.

Content

Domains
Self Management,
Self Awareness,
Relationship Skills,
Social Awareness,
Responsible Decision Making
Subdomain

Interpersonal strength, Involvement with family, Intrapersonal strength, School functioning, Affective strength, Career strength.

Grades
Kindergarten,
1st Grade,
2nd Grade,
3rd Grade,
4th Grade,
5th Grade,
6th Grade,
7th Grade,
8th Grade,
9th Grade,
10th Grade,
11th Grade,
12th Grade
Languages
English,
Spanish
Respondent
Student,
Teacher,
Parent

Administration Information

Length
10 minutes
Administration
Paper
Timed
No

Access and Use

Price

Starter pack: includes Examiner's Manual, 25 Parent Rating Scales, 25 Teacher Rating Scales, 25 Youth Rating Scales, and 50 Summary Forms ($208)

Examiner's Manual ($73)

 25 Parent Rating Scales ($39)

25 Student Rating Scales ($39)

25 Teacher Rating Scales ($39)

50 Summary Forms ($39)

15 Spanish Parent Scales ($34)

15 Spanish Student Scales ($34)

15 Spanish Teacher Scales ($34)

Contact

Michael H. Epstein, EdD

402-472-3956

mepstein1@unl.edu

Open Access
No
Use in Research

Anthony, E. K., Krysik, J., & Kelly, C. (2019). Social-emotional well-being among youth living in out-of-home care. Children and Youth Services Review, 96, 381-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.007

Lappalainen, K., Savolainen, H., Kuorelahti, M., & Epstein, M. H. (2009). An international assessment of the emotional and behavioral strengths of youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(6), 746-753. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9287-5

Sointu, E. T., Savolainen, H., Lappalainen, K., & Epstein, M. H. (2012). Parent, teacher and student cross informant agreement of behavioral and emotional strengths: Students with and without special education support. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21(4), 682-690.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9520-x

Uhing, B. M., Mooney, P., & Ryser, G. R. (2005). Differences in strength assessment scores for youth with and without ED across the youth and parent rating scales of the BERS-2. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral disorders, 13(3), 181-187. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266050130030601

Wisner, B. L., & Norton, C. L. (2013). Capitalizing on behavioral and emotional strengths of alternative high school students through group counseling to promote mindfulness skills. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 38(3), 207-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01933922.2013.803504

Psychometrics

Scoring
Manual scoring
Referencing
Norm-referenced
Psychometric References

Buckley, J. A., & Epstein, M. H. (2004). The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2): Providing a comprehensive approach to strength-based assessment. The California School Psychologist, 9(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340904

Buckley, J. A., Ryser, G., Reid, R., & Epstein, M. H. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis of the behavioral and emotional rating scale–2 (BERS-2) parent and youth rating scales. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15(1), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-005-9000-2

Epstein, M. H., Mooney, P., Ryser, G., & Pierce, C. D. (2004). Validity and reliability of the behavioral and emotional rating scale: Youth rating scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(5), 358-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731504265832

Harniss, M. K., Epstein, M. H., Ryser, G., & Pearson, N. (1999). The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: Convergent validity. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 17(1), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F073428299901700101 

Mooney, P., Epstein, M. H., Ryser, G., & Pierce, C. D. (2005). Reliability and validity of the behavioral and emotional rating scale-: Parent rating scale. Children & Schools, 27(3), 147-155. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/27.3.147

Item Type
Likert

Psychometric Considerations

Psychometrics is the science of psychological assessment. A primary goal of EdInstruments is to provide information on crucial psychometric topics including Validity and Reliability – essential concepts of evaluation, which indicate how well an instrument measures a construct - as well as additional properties that are worthy of consideration when selecting an instrument of measurement.

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