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Before undergoing bariatric surgery, it’s essential to investigate a candidate’s mental health status. 

The PAI Bariatric compiles the results of the PAI into a convenient report targeted to your bariatric surgery candidates. The results allow you to evaluate psychological factors that, if left unattended, may negatively impact bariatric surgery outcomes. 

How does the PAI Bariatric work? 

The PAI Bariatric uses the PAI to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, mania, psychosis, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, history of abuse, family history of mental health issues, and any adverse treatment experiences. It organizes PAI results into a convenient report focused on bariatric patients. The PAI Bariatric includes bariatric presurgical candidate norms—not just comparison group profiles—to provide users with the information needed to determine bariatric surgery eligibility in less than an hour. 

The report provides information to help you identify and treat preexisting psychopathology prior to surgery, determine which patients may need additional postoperative care, and provide alternative treatment strategies if the patient is not deemed a candidate for the procedure they are seeking. 

The PAI Bariatric e-Manual Supplement describes the domains of focus, the development of bariatric norms, and basic psychometric information. 

How to use the PAI Bariatric 

To assess your clients with the PAI Bariatric, use PARiConnect to administer the PAI either in your office or remotely. Using the PAI Bariatric Score Report to view results based on bariatric presurgical candidate normative data. The results of the report can be shared with other members of your client’s care team. 

The diagnostic possibilities featured in the PAI Clinical Interpretive Report are conveniently included in the PAI Bariatric Score Report. 

If you have already administered the PAI and have the responses, you do not need to readminister the PAI. You can simply run those scores with a PAI Bariatric Score report. 

What is the difference between the PAI Plus bariatric overlay and the PAI Bariatric Report? 

The PAI Bariatric Score Report includes information specifically for bariatric surgery patients, and results are based on bariatric surgery candidate norms. The PAI Bariatric Report includes bariatric reference group normative scores. It is based on a different sample than the PAI Plus bariatric overlay. A subsample (n = 931) of approved bariatric surgery candidates was derived from archival data collected during psychological evaluations at an outpatient health psychology clinic. Approved surgery candidates underwent bariatric surgery at a local medical center for weight loss surgery. Patients’ surgeries were considered successful if they had received follow-up care after surgery for at least 1 year and achieved 50 percent or more loss of excess body weight as recorded during the last follow-up appointment. 

Who can purchase the PAI Bariatric Score Report? 

The qualification level required to purchase, administer, and interpret the PAI Bariatric Score Report is C, which means you must have an advanced professional degree that provides appropriate training in the administration and interpretation of psychological tests or license or certification from an agency that requires appropriate training and experience in the ethical and competent use of psychological tests. A trained psychologist is needed to administer and evaluate the results of the PAI. 

 

Learn more about the importance of accurate bariatric assessment

 

Learn more about the PAI Bariatric.

 

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The newest additions to the PDD Behavior Inventory (PDDBI) product family are now available. 

The PDDBI can better help you to document and evaluate change in individuals on the autism spectrum. The PDDBI is an informant-based rating scale that can be completed by parents and teachers to assess features of autism and responsiveness to intervention. 

Unlike other measures for ASD, the PDDBI was developed to assess both problem behaviors as well as appropriate social, language, and learning/memory skills. It can be used in assessment, treatment planning, and monitoring. Two new reports and a manual supplement have just been released.

PDDBI supplement provides practical insights 

The just-released PDDBI Professional Manual Supplement: Advanced Score, Multirater, and Progress Monitoring Interpretation digital supplement provides practical insight into the reasoning behind the development of the new reports as well as their application in practice. 

This new supplement provides guidance for calculation and interpretation of parent–teacher rating comparisons and tracking changes in scores over time using Reliable Change Indices. In addition, it includes guidance for advanced interpretation of the PDDBI, including interpretation of individual scores and clusters and comparisons between parent and teacher ratings. Reliable change indices are provided in order to detect significant differences (a) between raters and (b) over time.

Enhanced and updated PDDBI reports 

Updated and new reports offer clinicians additional insights to better document and evaluate change in individuals with ASD. The PDDBI Multirater and Progress Monitoring Reports are both available for no additional charge when you purchase and use a score report for each form you wish to compare. 

  • The enhanced PDDBI Score Report provides a new interpretive guidance section, a revised look and feel with icons clearly indicating score ranges, and an optional items and responses section. 
  • The new PDDBI Multirater Report allows you to select one parent rating and one teacher rating to get a detailed look at both sets of results, with significant differences clearly highlighted, both ratings plotted together on the profile, and an optional item and response section. 
  • The new PDDBI Progress Monitoring Report allows you to compare scores from one rater for up to four administrations. Get a detailed look at progress or decline with significant differences clearly highlighted, all ratings plotted together on the profile, and an optional item and response section. Comparison tables are also included.

Using the PDDBI with TRICARE 

If you are covered by TRICARE, use of the PDDBI is mandated under the Autism Care Demonstration (ACD) benefit. Under the ACD, applied behavior analysis (ABA) providers are authorized to render services for the core symptoms of ASD. The goal of ABA therapy is to minimize challenging behaviors and improve the quality of life for the individual and their caregivers. 

Under this program, the PDDBI is used as a baseline outcome measure to help providers develop treatment plans and evaluate an individual’s change in behavior over time. The PDDBI will be readministered every six months. 

If you are a clinician who accepts TRICARE, the PDDBI is mandated for use as part of initial assessment and every six months to monitor progress. Additional age-based outcome measures that evaluate parenting stress are also required under ACD (the Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition Short Form [PSI-4-SF] and the Stress Index for Parents of Adolescents [SIPA]) are also available from PAR. Learn more about the requirements for TRICARE reimbursement under ACD.

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What a year! We at PAR have been incredibly busy creating new products, developing useful webinars, and providing you with the tools and information you need to help those you serve. Here’s a quick look back at some of the things we’ve been up to in 2022.

Spanish releases

To better help you serve Spanish-speaking clients, we released many of our most popular tests for online administration in Spanish on PARiConnect this year. This includes the BRIEF2 Parent Form Spanish, the BRIEF2 Self-Report Form, the EDDT-PF, the EDDT-SR, the PSI-4-SF, and the TSI-2. Learn more about our Spanish-language offerings here.

Furthermore, we released the PAI Spanish: Revised Translation, which enables clinicians to assess personality and psychopathology among Spanish-speaking adults. This translation was reviewed exhaustively by an expert panel of bilingual psychologists and offers Spanish-language client emails and test instructions, providing clients with a seamless testing experience.

More options on PARiConnect

The Feifer Assessment of Writing Interpretive Report (FAW-IR) was recently added to the Feifer product family. This new report provides scores for all FAW subtests and includes detailed interpretations of index, discrepancy, and subtest scores. The FAW-IR offers targeted intervention recommendations tailored to each individual’s age and FAW scores, aiding clinicians in creating personalized and targeted intervention recommendations.

The Iowa Gambling Task, Version 2 (IGT2) is now available for administration and scoring on PARiConnect. The IGT2 evaluates decision making via a real-time gambling task that resembles real-world situations. A complimentary technical paper can be downloaded from the IGT2 product page.

The Multidimensional Health Profile–Health Functioning (MHP-H) form is now available for administration and scoring on PARiConnect. Ideal for use in health care settings, the MHP-H can provide insight to improve long-term health outcomes.

Two Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) reports were added to PARiConnect this year. The NAB Main Modules Score Report and the NAB Screening Module Score Report allow users to enter data from a paper-and-pencil assessment and receive scores via PARiConnect.

BRIEF2 Interventions Handouts are informative ways to provide parents, teachers, and students with detailed information and interventions to improve executive function in children and adolescents. The BRIEF2 handouts are only available via PARiConnect.

And we made updates to the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory Score Report to now include a longitudinal profile and an updated look and feel!

And so much more!

The PAR Training Portal offers a new interactive course on the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS) as well as recordings of all the PARtalks webinars from this year. Visit today to catch up on all the content from this year.

Looking forward to serving you even better in 2023!

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The Feifer Assessment of Writing™ Interpretive Report (FAW-IR™) is now available!  

Students spend nearly 60% of their school day engaged in the process of written expression. Deficits in the writing process can wreak havoc on students’ education. The FAW examines the underlying processes that support proficient written language skills. In addition to identifying the possibility of dysgraphia, the FAW is able to determine the specific subtype of dysgraphia.  

In addition to scoring the FAW, the FAW-IR on PARiConnect provides a general overview of a student’s scores, including index interpretations, discrepancy scores, and intervention recommendations. What makes this interpretive report unique is that it provides strategies and recommendations specific to each individual’s scores. Clinicians can use these additional resources to recommend targeted interventions to help their clients.  

The FAW is a diagnostic achievement test designed to examine the underlying cognitive, motoric, and linguistic processes that support proficient written language skills. It is the third and final member of the Feifer family of diagnostic achievement test batteries, joining the Feifer Assessment of Reading (FAR) and the Feifer Assessment of Mathematics (FAM)

Results of the FAW help specify, from a neuropsychological perspective, exactly why a student struggles with written language so clinicians can develop appropriate, customized interventions. It also provides additional information about a student’s writing skills that allow users to dig deeper into a student’s writing abilities.  

The FAW can be administered to individuals from prekindergarten through college.  

Learn more about the FAW-IR now

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The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) now offers two reports available for scoring via PARiConnect—the NAB Screening Module Score Report and the NAB Main Modules Score Report. These NAB reports will allow clinicians to enter data from a paper-and-pencil assessment and receive scores via PARiConnect.  

Users of the NAB Screening Module Score Report will receive an estimate of the examinee’s functioning in each of the NAB domains and gather information on whether further examination is warranted. Users of the NAB Main Modules Score Report receive scores and profiles for any of the NAB domains for which they have entered information. Adding these reports to PARiConnect allows clinicians the ability to score these assessments from anywhere they may be.  

Learn more about the NAB

The NAB is a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment that offers the combined strengths of both a flexible and fixed battery, allowing clinicians to focus on specific areas of concern across a wide range of cognitive skills and functions. The NAB consists of five domain-specific modules: Attention, Language, Memory, Spatial, and Executive Functions. The sixth module, Screening, allows clinicians to determine which of the other five domain-specific modules are appropriate to administer to an individual client. Each of the six NAB modules is self-contained and may be administered independently of the other modules. 

Each of the 33 individual NAB tests has two equivalent, parallel forms that were created and normed simultaneously to facilitate reevaluation while avoiding practice effects. 

 

Learn more about the NAB or visit the PAR Training Portal for an on-demand interactive course on this assessment. 

 

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The need for mental health services for Spanish-speaking populations has never been greater. A study published in May reveals that from 2014–2019, the Hispanic population in the U.S. increased by 4.5%, but the number of facilities providing services in Spanish decreased by 17.8%. And these statistics don’t include the overall uptick in demand for mental health services created by the pandemic. 

As part of our commitment to provide access to underserved populations, PAR now offers several Spanish-language assessment tools on PARiConnect, our online assessment platform, providing you with flexible assessment options for your Spanish-speaking clients and students to assess your Spanish-speaking clients.  

Administration for these products is now available in Spanish on PARiConnect: 

The Parenting Stress Index™, Fourth Edition Short Form (PSI™-4-SF) can quickly identify parent–child problem areas. 

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®, Second Edition (BRIEF®2) Parent and Self-Report forms help you assess impairment of executive function from the parent or child’s perspective.  

The Trauma Symptom Inventory™-2 (TSI™-2) evaluates acute and chronic posttraumatic symptomatology.  

The Emotional Disturbance Decision Tree™–Parent Form and EDDT™-Self-Report Form assess emotional disturbance from the parent’s or student’s perspective. 

The Personality Assessment Inventory™ (PAI®) Spanish: Revised Translation comprehensively assesses adult psychopathology. 

 

Visit our Spanish-Language Products page for a complete listing of the many other products we offer in Spanish, plus you can download our FREE Language Acculturation Meter

 

 

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In primary care settings, it’s essential to quickly identify health beliefs and practices that may impact an individual’s health functioning. The Multidimensional Health Profile™–Health Functioning form (MHP™-H), designed for use in health-related settings, is now available for administration and scoring on PARiConnect.  

The MHP-H consists of 69 items that provide information on five major areas of concern: adult health history, response to illness, health habits, health care utilization, and health beliefs and attitudes. Using the MHP-H can help you identify patients who may need more follow-up care, support, or assistance to  improve their long-term health outcomes.

Psychological concerns can influence a patient’s vulnerability to physical illness, perceptions of their symptoms, patterns reporting, and compliance with medical advice. Furthermore, some individuals overuse medical services. A measure like the MHP-H can help you determine who may benefit from psychosocial interventions, preventive efforts, educational programs, and support groups to improve functioning and reduce health care costs.

Research supports the use of the MHP-H for gastric bypass evaluation; it can be used to determine if dysfunctional attitudes and health-compromising habits may influence recovery or use of services.

Learn more about the MHP-H on PARiConnect now!

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Executive functions are brain-based abilities that help people control or manage behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. They are critical for supporting learning and success in school (and later, in life) and influence social, emotional, behavioral, and daily living skills.  

Injury, poverty, disabilities, mental health diagnoses, trauma, stressful events, and more can affect the executive functions. Knowing more about if and how a child or adolescent struggles with their executive function helps professionals put supports into place that will help them succeed.  

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF2) is the gold-standard rating scale for executive function testing. It provides the information professionals need to make informed and impactful intervention and accommodation recommendations.  

Two new BRIEF2 reports on PARiConnect help professionals—and parents and teachers—get that information more efficiently.   

The new BRIEF2 Score Report includes a summary of BRIEF2 scores, including an optional ADHD profile; the updated Interpretive Report features scores and detailed interpretive text for BRIEF2 clinical scale, index, and composite scores as well as intervention recommendations and optional ADHD scores and interpretation and a DSM-5 ADHD Symptom Checklist—now together in one comprehensive report!  

The new BRIEF2 Interventions Handouts, developed by the test authors and designed for students, parents, and teachers, provide detailed information, evidence-based supports, and helpful resources to improve and reinforce student executive functioning.  

To learn more about the BRIEF2, visit parinc.com/BRIEF2 

 

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ChecKIT on PARiConnect offers you a centralized location for brief, commonly used mental health checklists. Now we’ve added the Geriatric Depression Scale–Short Form (GDS-SF) to our ChecKIT offerings! This 15-item checklist efficiently screens for depression in older adults. 

The ChecKIT family of products are simple checklists that can be administered, scored, and tracked via PARiConnect. They can be mixed-and-matched within the ChecKIT family, so clinicians can easily build the bundle that is right for each client. Administration and scoring are provided together in one purchase. 

 

What’s on ChecKIT? 

NEW! The Geriatric Depression Scale–Short Form (GDS-SF) is a 15-item checklist designed to screen for depression in older adults. 

NEW! The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) is a 24-item questionnaire developed to screen for alcohol dependence and alcohol-related behaviors.  

The Language Acculturation Meter (LAM) provides a framework for testing culturally and linguistically diverse individuals to help choose appropriate assessment instruments. 

The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a 9-item depression screener designed for use with adults in a primary care setting that has garnered overwhelming popularity in research and clinical practice. 

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) is a 7-item screener for anxiety. Based on the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder in the DSM-IV ™, the GAD-7 is ideal for use in research and clinical practice. 

 

Flexible purchase model 

Purchase multiple units of checklists up front, and decide which checklists you want to use when you are ready to administer them. 

 

Score reports and technical papers 

After administration, you’ll receive a score report that offers interpretive text that can be easily incorporated into your professional reports. You can also export data for a ready-to-analyze dataset to facilitate research. Furthermore, each ChecKIT product offers a complimentary technical paper that explains the development behind the measure. 

 

Easily track progress 

ChecKIT allows you to save repeated administrations in one location and regularly track client symptoms across therapy sessions. 

 

Check out ChecKIT and the new GDS-SF today! 

 

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PAR is excited to announce the release In-Person e-Stimulus Books for the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery® (NAB®) modules!  

The NAB Attention Module, NAB Executive Functions Module, NAB Memory Module, NAB Spatial Module, NAB Language Module, and NAB Screening Module In-Person e-Stimulus Books are convenient and more hygienic alternatives to paper stimulus books and cards. They are designed to be used via tablet during face-to-face administration. Be sure to download our new white paper prior to administering for guidance on how to use e-Stimulus Books. 

Did you purchase a NAB kit or paper stimulus book prior to November 3, 2021? We’re pleased to offer the In-Person e-Stimulus Book (for in-person administration via tablet) to you at no charge for a limited time! Just call 1.800.331.8378 or email us at CS@parinc.com with your request.   

PAR offers many more In-Person e-Stimulus Books to provide you with the flexibility and confidence you need when administering tests. Check out our e-Stimulus Books web page to learn more. 

 

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