GUIDELINES for Psychological Assessment

Statement Distinguishing Between Guidelines and Standards The term guidelines refers to statements that suggest or recommend specific professional behavior, endeavor, or conduct for psychologists. Guidelines differ from standards. Standards are mandatory and thus may be accompanied by an enforcement mechanism (e.g., the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct; APA, 2017a). By contrast, guidelines are aspirational in intent; they are not mandatory, definitive, or exhaustive. They aim to facilitate the continued systematic development of the professional and to promote a high level of professional practice by psychologists. A set of guidelines may not apply to every professional and clinical situation within the scope of that set. As a result, guidelines are not intended to take precedence over the professional judgments of psychologists that are based on the scientific and professional knowledge of the field and the ethics code. Further, federal and state laws also supersede guidelines. These guidelines are professional practice guidelines that are applied to the practice of psychology and not to specific treatments that may be used in the practice of psychology. Professional practice guidelines are directed to practitioners and are intended to provide aspirational guidance in ethical and professional decisionmaking in professional practice. Compatibility With APA Ethics Code These guidelines are consistent with the current APA Ethics Code (APA, 2017a). The guidelines are also consistent with and acknowledge other relevant APA policy such as the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (APA, Commission on Accreditation, 2015), the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA] et al., 2014), and the Professional Practice Guidelines: Guidance for Developers and Users (APA, 2015b). Definition of Terms ASSESSMENT QUALIFICATIONS The term assessment qualifications refers to the combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, training, experience, and practice credentials that are deemed desirable for the use of psychological tests and assessment materials. However, the term describes two types of qualifications: (a) generic assessment knowledge and skills necessary for typical uses of tests and (b) specific qualification for the responsible use of tests in specific settings and for specific purposes (APA, 2001). ASSESSMENT The term assessment refers to a complex activity integrating knowledge, clinical judgment, reliable collateral information (e.g., observation, semistructured or structured interviews, third-party report), and psychometric constructs with expertise in an area of professional practice or application. Psychological assessment is a problem-solving process of identifying and using relevant information about individuals, groups, or institutions for the purpose of decisionmaking and recommendations (APA, 2001). This includes sensitivity toward the inclusion of diverse and underserved populations. EVALUATION Although the terms evaluation and assessment are often used interchangeably, evaluation is a component and often end product of the assessment process. PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING Psychological tests are defined as any psychometrically derived measurement instrument that assesses the psychological constructs in which a structured sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently quantified, scored, interpreted, and synthesized using a standardized process for the purpose of evaluative conclusion or recommendation (AERA et al., 2014). According to these AERA, APA, and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) standards, although tests may differ vastly in terms of item and presentation design, response format, and purpose, the commonality across all test instruments is that the process by which the subject’s responses are evaluated and scored is standardized. In addition, other instruments that can be included in psychological assessment protocols where subject responses are aggregated and scored in a standardized fashion, such as structured diagnostic interviewing systems (e.g., Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders, Clinician Version; First et al., 2016) and/or structured life history (i.e., biodata; Oswald et al., 2004) inventories and other job performance prediction instruments (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998) developed using psychological assessment principles and used with concurrent declarations of generalized predictive utility in similar settings, also fall within the purview of the AERA/APA/NCME standards. Documentation of Need/Public Benefit AVOIDANCE OF HARM Psychological testing, assessment, and evaluation is a core component of psychological practice, treatment planning, and subsequent decisions regarding those served. Psychologists are guided by professional standards of practice in engaging in psychological testing, assessment, and evaluation to be compliant with competency expectations and to avoid harm to clients. Guidelines for psychological assessment and evaluation are important for use by psychologists to aspire to fair, respectful, and competent service delivery and treatment of examinees. EMERGING UNDERSERVED OR VULNERABLE CLIENT POPULATIONS The population served by psychologists continues to reflect the shift of focus to underserved, rural, older adult, immigrant and refugee, and other vulnerable populations. Ongoing research and empirical evidence support the need to recognize culture, language, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, and other forms of human diversity in decisions regarding service delivery. Several factors contribute to one’s ability to conduct an assessment, formulate differential diagnoses, and develop contextually and culturally relevant treatment recommendations: choice of test instruments, relative weight of multiple data points, and contextual factors relevant to decision-making all must be considered when assessing the increasingly diverse population that psychologists serve. Guidelines are important in identifying expectations for competent service to varied populations