应对研究的成果、问题与解决办法

应激和应对问题 ,由于同人的心理适应和健康密切相关 ,目前在国外已经成为心理学所有领域中研究最多的一个重要课题。然而 ,该课题的研究 ,特别是关于应对方式及其效果评价的研究 ,存在着较突出的问题。通过对国内 4种最主要的有关学术期刊的检索发现 ,同国外相比 ,国内的应激和应对的研究在数量和质量上均有较明显的差距。文章结合国内外有关研究的现状 ,分析、说明了在应对研究中存在的 5个主要问题 :(1)忽略防御机制的有效评估和在心理适应中的作用 ;(2 )应对方式的评定方法不当 ;(3)在对于应激的影响和应对后果的估价中存在着片面性和策略上的错误 ;(4)应对研究的设计同关于应激和应对的“过程”理论不一致 ;(5 )应对研究同临床实践之间存在着较明显的脱节。作者探讨并提出了对于这些问题的可能的解决办法。     

Assesement of young children

Discusses important issues and problems related to the assessment of young children. A review of the literature identifies major trends in the field of assessment in early childhood education. Authors conclude that with increased emphasis on assessment of young children, there is an increased need to develop teachers' skills in both selection and interpretation of appropriate formal and informal assessment techniques.     

从心理学的后现代转向看人才测评的范式转换

在人才测评的理论、方法论以及具体方法的背后,隐含着科学心理学的范式取向。新时期人才测评理论与实践所遭遇的深刻危机,与科学心的理学范式影响有着密切关系。科学主义心理学与人文主义心理学两大范式的张力,与后现代思潮相互激荡,汇集成心理学后现代转向的潮流。心理学的后现代转向对新时期人才测评启发甚多,它召唤人才测评理沦基础、方法论及实践的创新,昭示着新时期人才测评的范式转换。     

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ABSTRACT

It is estimated that there have been over 4,000 articles in the literature on the subject of attentional problems, addressing its etiology, epidemiology, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. This article reviews recent and relevant literature with an eye toward functional conclusions and linkages between assessment and intervention. The article concludes by providing a problem-solving model that integrates parent or teachers' referral concerns, reasons for these concerns, assessment methods, and intervention strategies. In the end, four definitive conclusions are drawn, and the importance of multimodal strategies that collaboratively involve home, school, and community settings is emphasized.     

阅读障碍检测的“差异模型”与“成分模型”比较分析

阅读障碍检测的“差异模型”因其操作性强的特点备受研究者喜爱且已成为该领域研究中广为采用的检测模型,然而研究表明“差异模型”在理论与实践方面存在诸多弊端;鉴于此,一些研究者提出了基于阅读成分理论、以干预为导向、科学合理、简便易施的“成分模型”,从而避免了单一采用“差异模型”进行阅读障碍检测。研究表明“成分模型”在汉语阅读障碍检测和亚类型鉴定中同样具有可行性和有效性,因此尝试采用“成分模型”实施阅读障碍检测可以避免汉语阅读障碍检测方面存在的混杂现象,进而促使我国阅读障碍检测及亚类型鉴定朝向更加科学化、规范化方向迈进     

On beyond urine: clinically useful assessment instruments in the treatment of drug dependence

Although there are a wealth of clinically useful, brief, and low-cost assessment instruments available for use with drug-dependent populations, relatively few are broadly used in clinical practice. With an emphasis on: (1). the multidimensional nature of drug users' problems; and (2). assessments that can be integrated into empirically validated treatments, clinically useful assessments in four general categories (evaluation and diagnosis of drug dependence, identifying concurrent disorders and problems, treatment planning, and evaluation of treatment outcome) are briefly summarized. Progress in the field of drug abuse treatment has been significantly hampered by the failure to adopt, across research and clinical settings, a common set of assessments.     

Methodological issues in the quantitative analysis of dream content

Reviews measurement approaches applied to dream reports and proposes some methodological cautions that may result in more effective utilization of the dream report in research and assessment. Standardization of dream collection techniques and controls for variability in the length of dream reports are suggested. Further investigation of the intraindividual consistency of dream report measures is seen as necessary for a discussion of their validity. Though there are indications that a variety of dream report measures are potentially valid for psychological assessment, measures based on general dream report characteristics show greater promise than specific content analysis. Research on the differences between normal and disturbed subjects highlights the potential, and the problems, inherent in the use of dream reports as tools of psychological inquiry.     

Questioning the Link Between PTSD and Cognitive Dysfunction

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked with impairment in cognitive functioning, but anomalies appear to arise on several levels, masking the true nature of the relationship. On one level, there is a blurring of the emotional and physical causes of cognitive dysfunction, especially with memory problems that are similar to those due to neurological disorders. At other levels, problems are evident due to issues such as overgeneralizing from specific populations to the general population, and the use of narrow-focused neuropsychological assessment instruments that neither dissociate among precise memory components nor relate to everyday situations. In this review we highlight methodological problems and concerns, and make suggestions to establish valid links between PTSD and cognitive dysfunction.     

A Different Look at Assessment Centers: Views of Assessment Center Users

This study aims to shed light on possible problems of assessment center users and designers when developing and implementing assessment centers. Semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of assessment center users in Flanders revealed that, besides a large variability in assessment center practice, practitioners experience problems with dimension selection and definition, exercise design, line/staff managers as assessors, distinguishing between observation and evaluation, and with the content of assessor training programs. Solutions for these problems are suggested.     

Young handicapped children and their families: Patterns of interaction with human service institutions

The experiences of nine young handicapped children and their families with a variety of human service institutions are discussed. A retrospective account is presented from the parents' perspective of those aspects of their and their children's experience that have had a significant impact on their quality of life. Central among these experiences has been the interpersonal interaction with professionals. The parents' reported experiences regarding identification, the search for assistance, assessment, and their children's receipt of services suggest that there are problems in the areas of locating and acquiring an appropriate combination of services to meet family needs and in the quality of interpersonal relationships between parents and professionals. Recommendations are made to alleviate these and other problems.     

Psychiatric diagnoses of infants and toddlers referred to a community mental health system

There has been increased interest in improving mental health assessment and treatment of young children. However, there are limited data regarding the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among infants and toddlers. The recent development of measures and classification systems that are specific to this age group has enabled researchers to begin to investigate the social, emotional, and behavioral problems of young children. The present study reviews the major research that has been conducted in this area and examines the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses of infants and toddlers referred to a public community mental health system. The current investigation also compares the frequency of diagnoses of children who have been evaluated based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th edition) with another group of children who were diagnosed based on the Diagnostic Classification: 0-3 system. Although there were some differences between the two samples and classification systems, analysis indicated that parent-child relational problems, adjustment difficulties, regulatory problems, and developmental disorders are some of the more common diagnoses prevalent among young children referred for outpatient treatment. As diagnostic measures and classification systems continue to improve, clinicians will have a better understanding of the mental health problems and treatment needs of young children.     

Analogue assessment of child behavior problems

The psychometric properties of analogue assessment measures of child behavior problems are reviewed. Analogue assessment refers to an observational measure of targeted behaviors that are elicited by simulated experimental conditions, which, in turn, are devised to approximate natural circumstances. For the most part, this assessment approach has been used sporadically in the clinical setting with children who are behaviorally disturbed. Lack of standardization of measures and inconsistent findings of ecological validity are among several concerns noted. The paucity of available data limits conclusions that can be drawn at this time about the role of analogue assessment in the evaluation and treatment of child behavior problems.     

The Elusive Notion of “Argument Quality”

We all seem to have a sense of what good and bad arguments are, and there is a long history—focusing on fallacies—of trying to provide objective standards that would allow a clear separation of good and bad arguments. This contribution discusses the limits of attempts to determine the quality of arguments. It begins with defining bad arguments as those that deviate from an established standard of good arguments. Since there are different conceptualizations of “argument”—as controversy, as debate, and as justification—and since arguments in each of these senses can be used for different purposes, a first problem is that we would need a large variety of standards for “good” arguments. After this, the contribution focuses in particular on proposals made in the literature on how to assess the quality of arguments in the sense of justification. It distinguishes three problems of assessment: How to determine (1) whether reasons are acceptable, (2) whether reasons are sufficient to justify the conclusion, and (3) how to identify arguments in real-world speech acts and texts? It is argued that limitations of argument assessment result from unavoidable relativism: The assessment of many—if not most—arguments depends on the epistemic situation of the evaluator.     

Emotional Aspects of Learning Problems

Educational and mental health professionals working with children should be familiar with the emotional aspects of learning problems. While such problems are often given recognition as having a contributory role, the nature of that involvement is not always well understood, and too often those engaged in the assessment and treatment of learning problems give only cursory attention to the possible emotional components. This paper presents a discussion of the emotional aspects of learning problems, outlining the dynamics of emotional involvement as seen in 12 scenarios commonly found with clinic-referred children. Implications for assessment and intervention are also presented.     

Psychodynamic counselling for the borderline personality disordered client: A case study

Psychodynamic counselling for clients with borderline personality disorder is difficult and challenging because there are problems with the validity of the concept, diagnosing the disorder, managing disturbed behaviour and maintaining the treatment to successful completion. Nevertheless, counsellors are frequently called upon to provide assessment, management and treatment for this group. This article explores the application of psychodynamic principles of counselling to clients with borderline personality disorder, examines the history of the concept, the diagnostic process, and employs a case presentation to help describe aspects of character structure and treatment.     

Alcohol use among older adults

Alcohol use problems among older adults have been called the "invisible epidemic." As the population of older adults continues to grow, there is an increased need to reexamine alcohol use in this population. The authors provide an overview on alcohol use in the over-60 age group. The main areas of focus included research on the prevalence of drinking in that population, as well as comments on the best practices in assessment and psychological treatment. Several screening assessments have been recommended for use with older adults, such as the CAGE questionnaire, Michigan Alcohol Screening Test-Geriatric version, Alcohol-Related Problems Survey, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. The authors note age-appropriate psychological treatment interventions that include brief interventions, family interventions, motivational counseling, and cognitive behavioral therapies. Barriers to assessment and treatment are also discussed.     

Social competence as a developmental construct

The concept of social competence presents problems for conceptualization and assessment. At times researchers have tried to circumvent these problems by defining competence in terms of specific capacities or skills, with the consequence that the integrative potential of the concept is lost. On the other hand, more molar definitions (e.g., “effectiveness”), while being true to the integrative nature of the construct, provide little guidance for assessment. In this paper a developmental perspective on competence is presented which is congruent with a molar definition of competence while still guiding assessment efforts. In addition to this developmental viewpoint, certain practical guidelines are presented for assessment of competence across ages. These include the use of broadband assessments, which are tied to real-life adaptational problems, call for the coordination of affect, cognition, and behavior, and tax the integrative capacities of the child. Initial validation of the developmental competence construct and this approach to assessment is presented.     

Behavioral Sleep Problems in Children and Adolescents

Sleep problems in children and adolescents are common, and they impact multiple domains of child and family functioning. Psychologists have a critical role in the assessment and treatment of sleep problems and are integral to interdisciplinary sleep teams. Certain sleep problems may be related to co-morbid psychological or developmental conditions, and others are considered to be primarily medical, yet behavioral approaches may be applicable. There are also sleep problems considered to be behavioral in etiology (e.g. inadequate sleep hygiene, behavioral insomnia of childhood, nightmares/bad dreams/nighttime fears, delayed sleep phase syndrome, and psychophysiological insomnia). In this article, the assessment of behavioral sleep problems, as well as specific behavioral sleep disorders, and their treatments will be discussed.