Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS)

The FEAS looks at emotional development by watching a child play, usually with their caregiver, rather than by asking questions or running a test. Fifteen minutes of interaction is observed or video recorded, then coded.

Six capacities are rated in sequence, each building on the one before: regulating attention and taking an interest in the world, forming attachments, two-way communication, developing a complex sense of self, symbolic play and representation, and emotional thinking. The caregiver is scored too — not on parenting quality, but on how well their behavior supports the child at each level. Because both sides are rated, results describe the interaction rather than the child alone, which is what makes them usable for planning.

• Overview of Age Intervals and Rating Structure

Licensing Notes: The full manual is a published book.

Learn More: Scoring is age-banded, with separate forms for six intervals: 7–9 months, 10–12, 13–18, 19–24, 25–35 months, and 3–4 years. The FEAS is criterion-referenced and grounded in the DIR (Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based) model, the framework behind DIRFloortime.