JBT 2(2) pp. 91-100

Industry-wide, there is a trend toward making outcome evaluation a routine part of therapeutic services. Although various multidimensional assessments of outcome are valid and reliable, their methodological complexity, length of administration, and cost often render them infeasible for many service providers and settings. The present article describes the development and validation of an ultra-brief outcome measure, the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS). The instrument’s psychometric properties are examined and reported for both clinical and nonclinical samples. Based on experience with the instrument at the various sites in the study, the feasibility of the scale is considered. Results indicate that the ORS represents a balanced trade-off between the reliability and validity of the longer measures, and the feasibility of this brief scale. Results and implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.