Alarm Distress Baby Scale
Screening tool for healthcare practitioners
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Alarm Distress Baby Scale (also known as ADBB Screening) is a validated[1] medical scoring tool for healthcare practitioners to identify infant social withdrawal. It was developed in 2001 by Antoine Guedeney and Jacques Fermanian in 2001[2]. The tool detects social withdrawal in infants using eight-item observer-rated scale;[3] a five-item scale has also been developed.[4]
In 2025, it was announced that Catherine, Princess of Wales, who had seen a demonstration of the ADBB in Denmark in 2022, would be expanding the use of the ADBB in the UK through her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood on a trial basis at NHS sites.[5]