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STORY STEM ASSESSMENT PROFILING TOOL

The story stem assessment profiling tool consists of a structured series of 13 narrative stems. These present children with a range of different family scenarios as the beginnings of a story, using doll and animal figures as well as language. The child is then invited to complete the stories in whatever way they like. This allows assessment of the child's expectations and perceptions of family roles, attachments and relationships, without asking the child direct questions about their family which might cause them conflict and anxiety. It also has the advantage for younger children of allowing both verbal and non-verbal means of representation.
Story stem assessments have been used for clinical assessment and for research in a number of centres. Great Ormond Street Hospital/Anna Freud Centre have developed a story stem battery and rating scheme focused on children who have experienced maltreatment. In a linked research study, they have compared maltreated children with others who have not suffered maltreatment and produced tables (Hodges and Hillman (2009) SSAP Tables) that allow practitioners who are accredited to administer and rate the story stem assessment profile, to compare the results of individual clinical assessments with the norms that have been found in the maltreated and non-maltreated populations. Children usually enjoy the assessment and do not experience it as overly threatening.