Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 52(8), 2015 C  2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pits DOI: 10.1002/pits.21857 EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROFILE ASSESSMENT USING THE BASC-2 WITH KOREAN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS CHRISTINE MYUNGHEE AHN Sogang University CHAD EBESUTANI Duksung Women’s University Korean middle school students are experiencing high rates of behavioral and emotional problems, suggesting a need for comprehensive screening instruments with strong psychometric properties in school settings. The present study investigated the utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Self-Report of Personality, Adolescent Form (BASC-2 SRP-A) to assess clinical problems and adaptive strengths among Korean middle school students. For this revalidation study of the BASC-2, we first translated the BASC-2 SRP-A into Korean (K-BASC-2 SRP-A). Then, using a total of 458 Korean middle school students aged 12 to 15 years, we examined the factor structure and reliability of the clinical, adaptive, and composite scale scores of the K-BASC-2 SRP-A. We also used a separate sample of 45 middle school students to examine the convergent validity of a subset of the K-BASC-2 SRP-A scales targeting the common problem areas of anxiety, depression, and inattention. Based on the current results, we found strong psychometric properties of the K-BASC-2 SRP-A for use among adolescents in Korea, including a well-fitting factor structure consistent with the originally proposed model, adequate reliability estimates, and validity coefficients falling in the acceptable range. The K-BASC-2 SRP-A can offer the Korean school mental health field a useful and much-needed multidimensional screening measure for middle school youths. C  2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The screening of youth problems in middle school is important to ensure that students are evidencing proper mental health development in their homes, schools, and peer environments (Glover & Albers, 2007). Indeed, early identification efforts have been found to lead to the ability for mental health professionals to provide care to students to help reduce their symptoms and promote better mental health future outcomes (Aos, Lieb, Mayfield, Miller, & Pennucci, 2004; Campaign for Mental Health Reform, 2005). Early detection and intervention for behavioral and emotional problems among Korean middle school students is critical because this student population has been cited as the most troubled age group among Korean youth (Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute, 2013). Students in the Korean education system face a tremendous amount of stress and pressure from multiple sources (Ahn & Shin, 2012; Ministry of Education, Science, & Technology, 2013), includ- ing their parents, society, and self-imposed pressures due to challenges associated with academic excellence to ensure future success and financial stability. With the intensely competitive nature of college entrance, middle school students have become subjected to increased academic pressure to enter specialized or college-preparatory high schools in recent years. Korean middle school students are now subjected to the intense competition and academic pressure that once only existed in high school. Middle school students have now joined the race for college entrance, fighting for acceptance and admittance into specialized high school preparatory classes beginning in these younger years (Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute, 2013). Such pressures have thus begun to contribute to Korean middle school students suffering from stress, poor self-esteem, and other mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, school violence, Internet and game addiction, and even suicide. Correspondence to: Christine Myunghee Ahn, Department of Psychology, Dasan Hall, Rm. 338, Sogang Univer- sity, Sinsu Dong #1, Mapo-Ku, Seoul, Korea 121-742. E-mail: Christine@sogang.ac.kr 756