Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF)
A quick rating scale that points a team toward the "why."
The QABF (Paclawskyj et al., 2000) is a brief, indirect assessment completed by someone who knows the student well, a teacher, caregiver, or clinician. Rather than requiring direct observation, it asks the rater to score 25 items on how often specific behaviors occur (0 = Never, 1 = Rarely, 2 = Some, 3 = Often), based on what's actually happened, not what seems like the "right" answer.
Each item maps to one of five functional categories:
- Attention: getting a reaction, drawing others in
- Escape: avoiding tasks, demands, or situations
- Tangible: gaining access to preferred items
- Physical: pain, illness, or physical discomfort
- Non-social/Automatic: self-stimulation, occurring even with no one around
Scores are totaled by category. The category with the highest score points to the function most likely maintaining the behavior, giving the team a strong starting hypothesis to guide next steps, whether that's a closer look through direct observation, a more targeted intervention, or a formal functional analysis.
Because it takes just a few minutes to complete and doesn't require in-the-moment observation, the QABF works well as an early screener, especially when a team needs a quick read on likely function before investing time in more intensive assessment methods.
In Behavior Advantage: Use the QABF's highest-scoring category to inform the Hypothesized Function in the FBA Tab, and cross-check it against findings from the FACTS and ABC data for a more complete picture.