Vineland Social Maturity Scale

The Vineland Social Maturity Scale (American Guidance Service, Inc., http://ags.pearsonassessments.com) is an assessment scale of personal and social skills pertaining to individuals from birth to 18 years, 11 months (including low-functioning adults). This evaluation measures four domains of adaptability, including communication, daily living, socialization, and motor skills, through semistructured interviews administered to the primary caregiver. This scale is one of the most common measures of adaptive behavior and is widely used to assess individuals with mental retardation or individuals who have difficulty performing in testing situations. The Vineland is used to identify not only individuals with mental retardation but also those with developmental delays, autism spectrum disorders, and other impairments, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and also helps in the development of educational and treatment plans.

The Vineland Social Maturity Scale was originally developed and published in 1935 by Edgar A. Doll, who was one of the first people to define mental retardation as being characterized by a limitation in adaptive skills. The scale was revised in 1984 by Sara Sparrow, Domenic Cicchetti, and David Balla and renamed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). The most current revision is the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales II (VABS-II). This latest revision includes a fifth domain that encompasses maladaptive behavior, covers an age range from birth to age 90, and has updated content regarding social expectations of tasks and living skills, as well as new norms based on current U.S. census data. The VABS is available in three formats: the expanded forms, which contain 577 items and take 60 to 90 minutes to administer; the survey form, which includes 297 items and takes 20 to 60 minutes to complete; and the classroom edition of 244 items, which is a questionnaire completed by an individual's teacher and takes approximately 20 minutes.

Items address the ability to perform tasks such as dressing or preparing meals, following rules, and building and maintaining relationships. Each of the domains contains two or three subdomains, which classify the behavior into specific categories. Communication comprises receptive, expressive, and written categories. Daily living skills include personal, domestic, and community categories. Socialization consists of interpersonal relationships, play, and leisure-time categories, and coping skills and motor skills are measured as fine and gross. The new maladaptive behavior index is an optional scale of internalizing, externalizing, and other behaviors that are assessed by questions that address inappropriate or dangerous behaviors. The individual receives a score in each of the domains and an Adaptive Behavior Composite with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. A score of 70 would suggest a diagnosis of mild mental retardation, and a score of 20 to 25 would be required for a diagnosis of profound mental retardation.