The Adult Sensory Profile: Measuring Patterns of Sensory Processing Catana Brown, PhD, OTR, is Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy Education, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3033 Robinson, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, Kansas 66160; tbrown@kumc.edu. Nona Tollefson, PhD, is Professor, Department of Psychology and Research in Education, University of Kansas. Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, is Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy Education, University of Kansas Medical Center. Rue Cromwell, PhD, is Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Kansas. Diane Filion, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Missouri in Kansas City. This article was accepted for publication January 10, 2000. Catana Brown, Nona Tollefson, Winnie Dunn, Rue Cromwell, Diane Filion Key Words: behavior • neurological model • sensation The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 75 Objective. This article describes a series of studies designed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Adult Sensory Profile. Method. Expert judges evaluated the construct validity of the items. Coefficient alpha, factor analysis, and correla- tions of items with subscales determined item reliability, using data from 615 adult sensory profiles. A subsample of 20 adults furnished skin conductance data. A heterogeneous group of 93 adults completed the revised Adult Sensory Profile, and item reliability was reexamined. Results. Expert judgment indicated that items could be categorized according to Dunn’s Model of Sensory Processing. Results suggested reasonable item reliability for all subscales except for the Sensation Avoiding subscale. Skin conductance measures detected distinct patterns of physiological responses consistent with the four-quadrant model. Revision of the Adult Sensory Profile resulted in improved reliability of the Sensation Avoiding subscale. Conclusion. The series of studies provides evidence to support the four subscales of the Adult Sensory Profile as distinct constructs of sensory processing preferences. Brown, C., Tollefson, N., Dunn, W., Cromwell, R., & Filion, D. (2001). The Adult Sensory Profile: Measuring patterns of sensory pro- cessing. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55, 75–82. S ensory processing is recognized as a domain of con- cern in occupational therapy and is included as a per- formance component in the third edition of the Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy (American Occupational Therapy Association, 1994). Occupational therapists typically assess sensory processing with measures of behavioral response to sensation. Although there are a number of measures available to assess sensory processing, the majority were developed for children. For example, in a recent review of sensory processing tests used by occupa- tional therapists, all measures listed were for children (Kohlmeyer, 1998). The lack of adult measures is unfortunate, given evi- dence that sensory processing concerns in children also are experienced by adults. When selected subtests of the Southern California Sensory Integration Test (SCSIT) were administered to adults with psychiatric disabilities (Falk- Kessler, Quittman, & Moore, 1988), significant relation- ships were found between the SCSIT and the neurological dysfunction present in the sample. A study of sensory defensiveness in persons with developmental disabilities showed that four of six behaviors were equally prevalent in children and adults (Baranek, Foster, & Berkson, 1997). Another study proposed a conceptual framework for sen- sory defensiveness in adults after identifying common themes related to response and coping to sensory stimuli (Kinnealey, Oliver, & Wilbarger, 1995). Downloaded From: http://ajot.aota.org/pdfaccess.ashx?url=/data/journals/ajot/930133/ on 06/18/2017 Terms of Use: http://AOTA.org/terms