“The SEEDS Assessment stands for the Social-Emotional, Evidence-based Developmental Strengths Assessment, designed to measure the social-emotional behaviors in children and adolescents that matter most. Based on a review of hundreds of scientific treatment studies (spanning various countries and decades of research), we have identified the mental health behaviors of youth needed for healthy development and freedom from emotional pain and distress. Take the SEEDS Assessment and receive the results, feedback, and steps needed to build, strengthen, and maintain your health and happiness.”
The term ‘Social-Emotional Strengths’ refers to the social and emotional skills in a person’s life—spanning cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal domains—that help a person effectively navigate his/her social world and environment, along with reduce the negative effects of life’s stressors on his/her happiness and emotional well-being. Research has shown that ‘Social-Emotional Strengths’ are important for youth to learn, develop, and apply in life in order to achieve stronger academic success, more meaningful relationships, and greater long-term happiness in life.
It takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. There are also a total of 62 items on the SEEDS Assessment questionnaire, yielding 14 subscale scores, and a Total Social-Emotional Strengths score.
No. The SEEDS Assessment is not only for people with mental health problems. Any child, adolescent, or adult can take the SEEDS Assessment to receive feedback on these important areas of his/her life. Receiving feedback in these areas of social-emotional skills and development is important for both problem reduction and also prevention of various emotional problems, such as anxiety, depression, and anger.
It is most common for the child him/herself to complete the SEEDS Assessment. However, parents and teachers can also provide valuable perspectives in these areas, and so parent-report and teacher-report versions of the SEEDS Assessment are also currently in development.
The SEEDS Assessment was initially developed to assess children and adolescents in grades 3 – 12 (ages 8 – 18 years old). Since these areas of Social-Emotional Skills have also been found to be vital for adults’ wellbeing and happiness as well, the adult version of the SEEDS Assessment is currently being developed.
Yes. The SEEDS Assessment has undergone empirical testing to ensure that its scores are associated with adequate levels of reliability and validity. For example, a study was recently conducted showing strong support for the factor structure of the SEEDS Assessment scales, as well as good reliability and validity of its subscale scores, including significant correlations with happiness, depressive symptoms, and other negative emotions (Ebesutani, 2016).