Exploring the Clinical Utility of the Generalized Pliance and Tracking Questionnaires for Children among Justice-Involved Youth

Abstract Empirical investigations of pliance and tracking, two functional classes of rule-governed behavior, are limited. This clinical report examined the temporal stability and prospective clincial utility of the Generalized Pliance Questionnaire–Children (GPQ-C; Salazar et al., 2018) and the Generalized Tracking Questionnaire–Children (GTQ-C; Pereira et al., 2020) in a sample of adolescent males residing in a juvenile residential treatment facility. Forty justice-involved youth voluntarily completed the GPQ-C and GTQ-C at four time points over the course of one year. At the same time, the facility’s standardized, color-coded behavior tracking system (green = meeting expectations, yellow = minor problem behavior, and red = major problem behavior) was used to evaluate whether changes in observed behavior occurred alongside GPQ-C and GTQ-C scores. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that both GPQ-C and GTQ-C scores demonstrated test–retest reliability, remaining stable across time. Although neither measure significantly predicted behavior at individual time points, higher GPQ-C and GTQ-C scores were associated with smaller reductions in problem behavior over the evaluation period. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.