SENA: a clinical evaluation system in the youth population

With the constant evolution that knowledge of psychology intrinsically entails, there are more and more more complete evaluation instruments are necessary and that allow the achievement of a more comprehensive evaluation process. comprehensive. This is even more relevant in the case of the child population, where a development process is taking place. psychological that will be decisive in the subsequent achievement of personality and functioning adult.

In this sense, the rise of multidimensional psychometric tests is becoming increasingly evident. This type of approach allows one to contemplate personal variations in the characteristics and manifestations of psychological problems. The Child and Adolescent Assessment System (SENA) is a good example of this type of methodology. It has a series of particularities that greatly facilitate the role of the clinician in the evaluation of child and adolescent psychopathology.

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Description and application of SENA

SENA is oriented to evaluate the set of emotional and behavioral problems that can be observed between 3 and 18 years of age. Its publication in 2015 was a proposal to replace a very similar previous test, the BASC (System of Evaluation of the Conduct of Children and Adolescents) in order to update some of the elements included in the scales, increase the validity index of the test and complement it with other scales of clinical interest, such as those related to Psychological Resources and Areas of Vulnerability.

More specifically, SENA presents three types of questionnaire depending on the age of the person evaluated: infant education (3-6 years), primary education (6-12 years) and secondary education (12-18 years). It also has the particularity that each chronological section of the test is multi-informant, each one made up of three complementary questionnaires: the self-report, which collects the responses of the own subject; the family report, answered by the parents; the school report, which contemplates the evaluation in the school environment observed by the child's tutor or also by the psychologist of the educational center.

What does SENA evaluate?

This instrument makes it possible to obtain, through the different age-specific forms and informants, an exhaustive assessment for determine the existence and intensity of the emotional and behavioral problems most commonly associated with the child population and Teen. So, more specifically SENA differentiates the following types of psychological difficulties.

internalized problems

These are related to anxiety or dysphoric symptoms and more commonly become internal emotional manifestations of the individual.

externalized problems

Its indicators may be externally more evident and are related to more behavioral aspects.

contextual issues

These scales are made up of the assessment of problems in the family and at school (distinguishing between academic and relational difficulties with respect to peers).

Specific problems

Depending on the chronological modality administered, the existence of the following types of problems is evaluated:

All the aforementioned scales come together to obtain global indices that synthesize what was found in them and add a general value of difficulties in executive functions and of the total level of resources personal.

On the other hand, SENA also provides other types of indices with highly relevant information that facilitate a deeper and more complete assessment of the personal dispositions of the evaluated person in order to of establish more clearly if the problems found have a more or less favorable prognosis. These include the scales of vulnerabilities or factors most linked to a more accurate forecast. unfavorable and personal resources, which are understood as protective factors associated with a better forecast.

On the other hand, SENA highlights the presence of positive responses in critical items, the seriousness of which requires dedicating special attention to its more detailed analysis, such as questions about suicidal ideation, bullying, hallucinations etc

Finally, this tool measures, through control scales, the sincerity with which the informants have responded without minimizing, maximizing, or displaying an inconsistent style in the responses provided. The scales included in this section refer to Inconsistency and Positive/Negative Impression of the responses provided.

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Conclusion: purpose, reliability and validity of SENA

Like any psychometric instrument for psychological evaluation, SENA It is not intended by itself to serve as the only diagnostic element. Although it is true that it provides a large volume of information, everything found from it must be complemented with a good anamnesis process and other methodologies such as observation, interview or administration of other tests complementary. As a whole, this will make it possible to rigorously elaborate a clearer diagnostic impression, as well as outline the most appropriate type of psychological intervention for the case evaluated in question.

Regarding the main indices that assess the quality of a psychological assessment instrument, reliability (the degree to which the test is accurate in the variables it measures) and validity (the security with which the test measures the variable it wishes to measure), satisfactory levels have been obtained in both areas.

Thus, the average obtained in all the SENA scales has reached an internal consistency or reliability of 0.86 (values ​​between 0.0 and 1.0). On the other hand, the level of agreement between informants is between 40 and 60%, which places SENA in the average of the largest part of the evaluation instruments and even slightly higher depending on the informant source and the clinical scale determined.

Finally, regarding the validity of the test, the long process and the participation of a large group of experts who have intervened in the elaboration and revision of the items that make up the test are a sample of the exhaustive work carried out to achieve a value of validity satisfying.

Bibliographic references:

• Fernández-Pinto, I., Santamaría, P., Sánchez-Sánchez, F., Carrasco, M.A. and del Barrio, V. (2015) SENA. Evaluation System for Children and Adolescents: Manual of Application, correction and interpretation. Madrid: TEA Editions.
• Fernández-Pinto, I., Santamaría, P., Sánchez-Sánchez, F., Carrasco, M.A. and del Barrio, V. (2015) SENA. Child and Adolescent Assessment System: Technical Manual. Madrid: TEA Editions.