The Questions About Behavior Function (QABF) measure is a widely used indirect assessment tool designed to assist mental health practitioners in assessing the function of maladaptive behaviors in individuals diagnosed with a developmental disability.
[1] The measure a reporter-based instrument, which relies on information from raters who are familiar with the individual being assessed.
The measure consists of 25 items, each of which ask a question about an individual's behavior and require the rater to respond on a Likert-type rating scale.
On the basis of the 25 items, the QABF produces scores in 5 distinct categories: Attention, Escape, Physical, Tangible, and Nonsocial.
Convergent validity between the QABF and the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) appears to be strongest, while convergent validity with analogue functional analyses appears to be lower than expected.