Assessment of the Inter-Rater Reliability of the Behavioural Assessment and Treatment Taxonomy (BATT)

Abstract

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based approach for treating a range of behavioural challenges and skill deficits commonly associated with developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ABA-based interventions are typically tailored to the socially significant needs of the individual receiving treatment. This individualized nature of treatment delivery can make it challenging for wide-scale program evaluation within and across different ABA service providers. The Behavioural Assessment and Treatment Taxonomy (BATT) is a tool designed specifically for the purpose of standardizing the documentation of assessment and treatment strategies and enabling systematic evaluation of treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability of the BATT using a retrospective study design (N = 112). The results demonstrated acceptable level of inter-rater reliability (κ > .80) across a number of target variables, although additional refinement of the BATT coding scheme is still required.