Behavioral Interviews in School Psychology: Issues in Psychometric Adequacy and Research

Abstract

Interviews between school psychologists and teachers or parents are usually conducted informally and unsystematically in the assessment process. Consequently, interviews have not been considered a formal assessment method in school psychology. This article reviews evidence for the psychometric adequacy of behavioral interviews both in terms of traditional psychometric theory and Generalizability Theory. Based upon this review, it was concluded that behavioral interviews have some evidence for interrater reliability (scorer generality), content validity, and criterion-related validity (method generality). Additional research in the areas of training behavioral interviewing skills, construct and social validation, the effects of interviewer and interviewee characteristics, and the accuracy of child interview data were recommended.