R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award: Randall T. Salekin, PhD

R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award: Randall T. Salekin, PhD

The 2025 R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award for a significant contribution to the field related to evidence-based assessment is awarded to Randall T. Salekin, PhD. 

Dr. Salekin is a distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama and the Director of the Disruptive Behavior Clinic. Dr. Salekin earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas and completed his clinical internship at Yale University. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the esteemed APA Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Contributions to Law and Psychology. 

Dr. Salekin’s research centers on the causes and correlates of disruptive behavior in children and adolescents. With over 200 publications to his name, he has significantly advanced the field and held significant leadership positions, currently serving as the President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy (SSSP). His best-selling book, “Forensic Evaluation and Treatment of Juveniles: Innovation and Best Practice,” has provided invaluable insights into clinical and forensic psychological assessments.

A noteworthy achievement in Dr. Salekin’s career is the development of the Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder (PSCD), an innovative measurement tool that enhances our understanding of the etiology, progression, and treatment of youth with Conduct Disorder (CD). This multispecifier model integrates personality traits with the four broad behavioral categories associated with CD, thereby advancing the conceptual framework of the disorder. The PSCD addresses personality vulnerabilities to prevent sample heterogeneity from obscuring genuine associations between neuroimaging biomarkers and specific personality traits related to CD. Moreover, Dr. Salekin’s rigorous psychometric validation of the PSCD has demonstrated that its proposed factor structure is replicable in both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. This groundbreaking tool has been translated into multiple languages and is utilized in various countries, including Belgium, Brazil, China, Iran, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United States.

In addition, Dr. Salekin has developed the Risk-Sophistication-Treatment-Inventory (RST-I) and its self-report version (RSTI-SR), providing essential guidelines for the assessment of juvenile offenders. Both instruments have garnered extensive support for their construct and criterion-related validity and are widely adopted across the United States. 

Please join us in thanking Dr. Salekin for his contribution and congratulating him for this award!