The Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Fourth Edition (BASC-4), helps clinicians understand the behavioural and emotional strengths and concerns of children and young people from preschool through to young adulthood. This comprehensive assessment system includes teacher and parent rating scales, self-report questionnaires, observation tools, developmental history forms, and clinician rating scales. The BASC-4 supports screening and prevention programmes, intervention planning, mental health diagnosis, and special education decision-making.  

 
Behaviour Assessment System for Children | Fourth Edition
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Behaviour Assessment System for Children | Fourth Edition

BASC-4

Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD,Randy W. Kamphaus, PhD
The Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Fourth Edition (BASC-4), helps clinicians understand the behavioural and emotional strengths and concerns of children and young people from preschool through to young adulthood. This comprehensive assessment system includes teacher and parent rating scales, self-report questionnaires, observation tools, developmental history forms, and clinician rating scales. The BASC-4 supports screening and prevention programmes, intervention planning, mental health diagnosis, and special education decision-making.  

 
Scores/Interpretation:
T scores and percentiles, for a general population and clinical populations
Publication date:
2026
Completion time:
10–20 minutes (TRS and PRS), 30 minutes (SRP)
Age range:
 2:0–21:11 (TRS and PRS); 6:0 through university/college age (SRP)
Qualification level:
B
Scoring options:
Q-global® Web-Based Administration, Scoring, and/or Reporting

NEW in BASC-4

  • Updated norms for all components that are based on the latest US Census demographic characteristics
  • Updated content; items added/updated to reflect the most recent conceptualisations of behavioural and emotional wellbeing
  • Child and parent-friendly language
  • New scales that enhance clinical decision-making
  • Enhanced interpretive reports
  • Additional clinical group profiles (e.g., traumatic brain injury, PTSD)

Forms

BASC–4 TRS, PRS, and SRP

BASC-4 offers a comprehensive set of rating scales that provide a complete picture of a child’s, adolescent’s or young adult's behavioural and emotional adjustment and wellbeing. The Teacher Rating Scale (TRS), Parent Rating Scale (PRS), and Self-Report of Personality (SRP) assess broad domains, such as overall adjustment, as well as narrow domains, such as anxiety and depression.

Forms

  • TRS: Preschool, Child, and Adolescent
  • PRS: Preschool, Child and Adolescent
  • SRP: Interview, Child, Adolescent, and University/College

BASC-4 Structured Developmental History (BASC-4 SDH)

The SDH is a comprehensive history and background questionnaire form that supplies a thorough review of a child’s social, psychological, developmental, educational, and medical information. This information is vital for guiding diagnostic decisions and treatment processes and helping to support the child’s overall wellbeing. Evidence-based questions provide the answers that are most valuable to the professionals who use this tool. The digital version allows parents or carers to complete the questionnaire remotely before an in-person visit. Users can also generate a summary of content from the digital SDH to expedite report writing.

  • Completed by parent, guardian, foster parent, or custodial carers via interview or questionnaire
  • Provides a systematic way to gather information that is crucial to the diagnostic and treatment process

BASC-4 Student Observation System (BASC-4 SOS)

The BASC-4 SOS uses a 15-minute observation procedure designed to enable a clinician to record and evaluate a student’s behaviour in a classroom environment. Psychologists, special educators, or other qualified professionals can assess adaptive and maladaptive behaviours ranging from positive peer interaction to repetitive motor movements.

The BASC-4 SOS uses momentary time sampling during 3-second intervals spaced 30 seconds apart over 15 minutes.

  • Part A—Behaviour Key and Checklist (a categorised list of specific behaviours)
  • Part B—Time Sampling of Behaviour (used to document the behaviours that occur during the 15-minute observation period)
  • Part C—Teacher’s Interaction with Student (used to document information that might prove relevant to understanding behaviours that occur during class)
 

Resources

The following resources are available for BASC-4.

Sample Reports

Video

Blogs

 

Revision Updates

Updated norms, updated item content, enhanced administration and interpretation, and additional clinical profiles.

Yes! The BASC-4 has a feature to enable audio during administration that reads the instructions and item content aloud.

BASC‑3 materials cannot be exchanged or converted for BASC‑4 materials. This applies to Q‑global® usages and subscriptions as well as paper materials. BASC‑3 usages, paper forms, and subscriptions remain valid, fully supported, and may continue to be used as normal.

BASC‑4 materials are offered as a separate purchase. If you are planning ahead, we recommend purchasing only the BASC‑3 materials you expect to need prior to transitioning to BASC‑4.

Please note that most eligible products may be returned within 60 days of purchase, as long as they meet the return criteria. See our return policy here.

Kit Materials

The BASC-4 Structured Developmental History (SDH) provides a thorough review of social, psychological, developmental, educational, and medical information about a child that may influence diagnosis and treatment decisions. The continuous improvement of the SDH differentiates it from other developmental history questionnaires. Each new edition is produced in consultation with panels of psychologists with broad expertise, and questions are added, removed, or changed based on the newest diagnostic standards, current science, and latest assessment and intervention standards of practice. Put simply, the SDH is always current, which makes it applicable to the demands of assessing today’s youth.

No, please visit the BASC-4 Behavioural and Emotional Screening System (BASC-4 BESS) product page for more information on the BASC-4 BESS kits available.

The Parenting Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ) is not available with the BASC-4 kits. The BASC–3 PRQ is available for purchase separately.

Q-global Scoring and Reporting

Q-global is a web-based administration, scoring and reporting platform that offers accessibility from any device connected to the Internet. It allows for quick and automatic organisation of examinee information and the ability to generate scores and produce accurate and detailed results. Reports are available in a .pdf or .doc format.

The BASC-4 offers a Score Report or Score Report with Intervention Recommendations. Please note: Intervention recommendations are not available for the Self-Report of Personality-Interview (SRP-I) and the Self-Report of Personality- College (SRP-COL) Forms.

The BASC-4 does not support hand scoring. Hand-scoring materials are available for the BASC-3.

 

The following webinars are available for BASC-4

 

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