Assessing TBI clients' work adjustment skills: The Work Performance Assessment (WPA)

Twenty-four traumatically brain injured (TBI) adults (12 vocational training placement candidates and 12 work adjustment candidates) participated in a reliability and validity study of a one hour job retention simulation entitled The Work Performance Assessment (WPA). Each participant received three parallel forms of the WPA (WPA units I, II, III) and experienced three different administrators. The results indicated that the WPA can be reliably scored in vivo by administrators or at a later time by videotape raters. Client performance was stable across the three units of parallel forms irrespective of the order in which those units were presented. Concurrent validity data offered strong support that the WPA can be used to identify TBI clients in need of work adjustment training. However, the findings did suggest that the particular administrator present could affect client performance.