How are the Total Competence, Adaptive Functioning, and Total Problems scores used?

Answer:  These scores provide indices of the child’s overall functioning, as seen by the respondent.  We have found that Total Competence and Adaptive Functioning T scores of 40 and Total Problems T scores of 60 provide good cutpoints for discriminating between clinically referred and non-referred children (see Chapter 2 for details of cutpoints).  The Total Problems score can also be used as a basis for comparing problems in different groups and for assessing change as a function of time or interventions.