Professionals who use the Conners 4 are guided by certain ethical and legal principles. Since ethical and legal principles can differ across jurisdictions, especially in a global context, the standards described in this section represent best practice, even if an examiner is not required to follow them according to a given professional association or laws governing licensure/certification. These guidelines include obtaining informed consent, explaining limits to confidentiality and local laws governing privileged communication, providing feedback upon completion, and complying with copyright laws.

The process of obtaining informed consent begins by informing the rater about the general purpose of the test, including the reason why an evaluation is being conducted and why rating scales like the Conners 4 are part of that evaluation. The rater must be informed of any limits to confidentiality and of the efforts the examiner will take to protect confidential information. The rater must also be instructed that they have the right to stop completing the rating scale at any time for any reason (consistent with the ethical standard of “freedom to withdraw”) but must be informed of the consequences of this choice and any alternative options. When referring to informed consent, consent means that the rater must freely agree to complete the rating scale without being forced to do so. Legally, consent can only be obtained from an adult. In the school setting, federal law requires the school to obtain consent from the youth’s legal guardian before conducting any individual assessment. Different jurisdictions will have different requirements for consent. It is imperative that the examiner understand the local regulations when it comes to consent and applies them to the completion of the assessment. Assent is agreement from a youth to participate. Although assent has little legal basis, it is important from an ethical viewpoint and considered good practice for all youth, but especially those over the age of 12.

Confidentiality is often addressed as part of the informed consent discussion and should include information about two main points: protecting information about the youth and protecting details about the rater’s responses. The examiner must be honest about who will have access to the information, how the information will be shared, and with whom the information will be shared. The rater should be informed about how the information will be kept confidential (e.g., on a secured server, in a locked file cabinet, in a locked office). Local jurisdictions may have additional confidentiality requirements that are more stringent. It is up to the examiner to ensure that they follow any requirements that go above and beyond these best practices.

After completing the Conners 4, raters may receive feedback sessions. In a feedback session , the assessor provides the rater with a general explanation of what the responses mean and addresses any questions and/or concerns the rater might have about the test and overall testing experience. A detailed feedback session requires knowledge of the Conners 4 scoring and interpretation and should be conducted by a professional who is qualified in these areas. Additionally, the report includes a Parent Feedback Handout that contains an easy-to-understand explanation and summary of results that can be shared with parents/guardians or a third party, after obtaining appropriate consent for the results to be released.

Test users are responsible for ensuring the confidentiality and security of test materials (including test items, scales, and information provided in test manuals) in accordance with professional standards and applicable legislation. MHS test materials are protected by various intellectual property laws, including copyright and trademark laws. Disclosure of copyrighted materials is prohibited by law. The Conners 4 is a copyrighted test; therefore, it cannot be copied or transformed into any medium without explicit written permission from the publisher. The Conners 4 is also a regulated test; in accordance with the ethical and professional standards of the American Psychological Association and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 2014), the use and interpretation of results is restricted to qualified professionals (see Users and User Qualifications in chapter 1, Introduction , for more information). Different global jurisdictions may have different qualification requirements. MHS reserves the right to restrict sales to those deemed qualified by our published guidelines (see https://mhs.com/who-can-order/ for MHS qualification guidelines).

Certain laws (e.g., the United States’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA] and the Canadian Personal Information Protection and the Electronic Documents Act [PIPEDA]) require that individuals must have access to the personal information contained in their files. It is the user’s responsibility to ensure that local laws and regulations be followed for the appropriate storage and release of personal information, test materials, and results. Please visit www.mhs.com to access the MHS Test Disclosure Policy, which includes recommendations for best practices regarding release of test materials and client access to test results under legal and ethical obligations. Parts of the digital reports contain copyrighted/trade secret material, including test items (see Tables 3.1 to 3.3 in chapter 3, Scoring and Reports , for information on these sections). If it is necessary or required by law to provide a copy of the report to anyone other than the examiner, sections containing the copyrighted material must be removed before distribution.