Journal of Clinical Child Psychology

Elbert, Jean C.

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533180pmid: N/A

A survey was designed to obtain data from clinical psychology graduate programs. 107 program directors provided information regarding pre‐internship training in child assessment. Questionnaire data pertained to formal coursework and experience in administration of a wide variety of psychological, neuropsychological and psychoeducational tests. Additional information was gathered regarding the requirements for formal graduate coursework related to clinical child psychology. Specific tests were classified into eight general categories of assessment: 1) intellectual functioning, 2) academic achievement, 3) auditory processing/language, 4) auditory‐visual processes, 5) perceptual‐motor functioning, 6) neuropsychological batteries, 7) personality/emotional functioning and 8) adaptive behavior. It was concluded that current training in child assessment continues to be focused largely on the formal assessment of intelligence and personality, and that training encompasses a comparatively narrow range of test instruments. These findings are discussed in light of increasing demands for clinicians with competence in the specialized assessment of infants, children and adolescents who present with a broad range of handicapping conditions.

Seagull, Elizabeth A.W.; Weinshank, Annette B.

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533181pmid: N/A

Junior high school teachers nominated students exhibiting five behavioral characteristics thought to be indicative of an underlying state of depression. Students were matched with a comparison group for age, sex, race and standardized reading scores, and both groups were studied using psychological measures, student and parent interviews, behavior checklists completed by parents and teachers, and school records. Results showed the following significant differences (p<.05): nominated students were rated by teachers as more task avoidant, anxious and introverted; by parents as less socially competent; and by clinicians as lower in overall affect. The parents of nominated students had less schooling and were more likely to use corporal punishment. Nominated students had more school absence and tardiness than comparison group students.

Jackson, Henry J.; Bruder, J.N.

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533182pmid: N/A

A questionnaire was presented to staff and students at a suburban high school. Participants were required to endorse or reject each of the 14 forced‐choice propositions concerning nonverbal behaviors typically included in social skills training (SST) programs. In addition, they were asked to indicate their estimate of peer group endorsement of each proposition. Results showed that both staff and students generally endorsed similar behaviors although staff endorsements were more pronounced. Furthermore mean estimated and observed percentages within each of the two groups showed high rank‐order correlations. This suggests that both groups strongly believed that others in their peer groups would share their perceptions of the propositions presented. The implications for SST programs and evaluation of the same are discussed.

Kazdin, Alan E.; Griest, Douglas L.; Esveldt‐Dawson, Karen

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533183pmid: N/A

The present investigation evaluated children's perceptions of psychopathology. The children who served as subjects were between the ages of 7 and 12 years and were hospitalized on an inpatient psychiatric service. Each child evaluated three case descriptions including a normal child and children with a diagnosis of conduct disorder or anxiety disorder. The case descriptions, presented in a 3 x 3 replicated Latin‐Square design, were rated to identify causal factors, helping agents, and interventions that might help the child. The results indicated that children evaluated conduct disorder and anxiety disorder cases as less likeable, more dysfunctional, having a poorer prognosis, and less similar to them than the normal case.‐ The conduct disorder case was rated as more severely impaired and less similar to the subjects than the anxiety disorder case. Parents and family figured prominently in the children's views of the causes of psychopathology and its amelioration. Parent yelling and arguing and harsh discipline were seen as major reasons why disturbed children behave the way they do. The influences most frequently endorsed as helping deviant children were spending more time with the family, talking about feelings, and engaging in better ways of thinking. The implications of the findings for providing treatment for disturbed children were discussed.

Deckner, Charles W.; Soraci, Sal A.; Blanton, Richard L.; Deckner, Patricia O.

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533184pmid: N/A

Two experimental assessments are described that have specific foci: discrimination learning ability and the capacity to maintain adaptive responding even when extrinsic feedback and/or reinforcement are not consistent. The intercorrelations of the two experimental assessments are reported. Further, as an initial step in establishing their relationships with variables established to be important prognostically and diagnostically, their correlations are reported with the following; measures of intelligence, social competence, language functioning, and the extent to which children approximate Kanner's syndrome, classical autism. Assessments with specific foci and global indices are discussed with regard to their relative utility in identifying and ameliorating important cognitive‐behavioral deficits. The dimensions assessed by the two experimental assessments, i.e., discrimination learning ability and maintenance of adapative responding, are clearly important in the study of abnormal children, and are not specifically and quantitatively assessed by existing measures.

Sawicki, Robert F.; Leark, Robert; Golden, Charles J.; Karras, Deborah

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533185pmid: N/A

Three additional clinical summary scales have been developed for the Luria‐Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery — Children's Revision (LNNB‐C). This paper reports preliminary findings for the LNNB‐C Pathognomonic, Left Sensorimotor, and Right Sensorimotor scales, whose items were selected in a derivation sample (N = 201: 125 normal, 76 brain impaired). The Pathognomonic scale is comprised of items that maximally discriminate brain impaired from unimpaired children. Items requiring lateralized performance were assigned logically to the Left and Right sensorimotor scales. Analysis of the results indicated, that on cross validation (N = 149:91 normal, 58 brain impaired), significant differences were found in the performance of brain impaired and unimpaired children for each of these scales. The scales also demonstrate acceptable levels of reliability (internal consistency). In a final analysis, classification analyses following a discriminant function analysis suggest that the inclusion of the Pathognomonic and Left Sensorimotor scales improve the statistical discrimination of brain damaged from normal children.

Adelman, Howard S.; Kaser‐Boyd, Nancy; Taylor, Linda

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533186pmid: N/A

This clinical study focused on minors’ participation in decisions to enter psychotherapy and on how such participation and other motivational factors relate to responsiveness to treatment. Findings indicate that, despite apparent competence to participate, few of the 42 youngsters sampled had been involved in the processes during which psychological treatment was prescribed for them. While 75% of the sample directly consented to treatment, only 60% indicated strong interest in getting started, and only 31% were evaluated as motivationally ready to begin. A positive relationship was found between clients’ motivational readiness and treatment adjustment and outcomes. The literature reviewed and discussion of findings underscore the potential impact of nonparticipation on commitment to, adjustment in, and outcomes of psychological treatment.

Rickard, Kathryn M.; Graziano, William; Forehand, Rex

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533187pmid: N/A

Although clinic‐referred children as a group systematically differ from non‐clinic children in rates of deviance and non‐compliance, some clinic‐referred children show no evidence of behavioral difference from non‐clinic children. It is possible that some children are referred to clinics because their parents’ lack of knowledge about child development norms leads to unrealistic expectations, and, consequently, to interpretations of the child's behavior as deviant. To explore this hypothesis, an inventory was developed to assess parental knowledge and expectations about children and was administered to mothers of clinic‐referred and non‐clinic children. Analyses. comparing these two groups of mothers revealed significant differences in patterns of knowledge and expectations. In addition, inventory responses were used to predict patterns of mother‐child interaction at home within the clinic‐referred groups. These and other results were discussed in terms of the role of parental expectations in child behavior and the development of effective interventions for clinic‐referred children.

Koverola, Cathy; Elliot‐Faust, Darlene; Wolfe, David A.

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533188pmid: N/A

A child abusive mother experiencing multiple life stresses was the focus of the present case study. A multimodal approach to treatment, including parent training and anger control training, evolved in an attempt to deal with the mother's parenting skill deficits and frequent personal crises. Procedural details of ongoing assessment and treatment are presented in order to highlight the critical problems frequently encountered when providing and evaluating treatment services to abusive and multi‐distressed families. The findings of this case study are not intended to be viewed as either treatment success or failure, but rather as a declination of the complexities inherent in work with this population, and the need to focus more specifically on daily events influencing parent behavior. Both theoretical and practical issues are raised by this case study that have implications for research and treatment.

Siegel, Lawrence J.; Osborne, Yvonne Hardaway; Rasbury, Wiley C.; Kossuth‐Bulen, Gina; Dollinger, Stephen J.; Kelton, Ana

doi: 10.1080/15374418409533190pmid: N/A

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