Differences between children with attention deficit disorder,children with specific learning disabilities,and normal children

The study investigated the power of five measures to differentiate between children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), and normal children. The measures employed were the Conners Parent Questionnaire (CPQ), the Conners Teacher Questionnaire (CTQ), the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), the Porteus Mazes Test (PMT), and the Jumbled Numbers Game (JNG). The results indicated that the Conners Parent Questionnaire, Conners Teacher Questionnaire, Matching Familiar Figures Test, and the Porteus Mazes Test significantly discriminated between groups. The Conners Questionnaires were able to discriminate between all three groups and the MFFT and PMT were able to discriminate between ADD and normal children. A discriminant analysis indicated that the CPQ was the best predictor of group membership, followed in order by the CTQ PMT, and MFFT.     

The validity of form F of the Matching Familiar Figures Test with kindergarten children

Egeland and Weinberg's contention that form F of the Matching Familiar Figures Test is inappropriate for kindergarten children was examined. White, middle-class, suburban kindergarten children were given form F of the Matching Familiar Figures Test, as well as a series of tests varying in degree of response uncertainty. It was hypothesized that tasks identified as high in response uncertainty would be the best predictors of norm-referenced composite reflection-impulsivity scores. Stepwise multiple regression analysis supported this hypothesis. The results were interpreted as supporting the construct validity of the Matching Familiar Figures Test as an index of reflection-impulsivity among kindergarten children.     

Children's embedded figures test and matching familiar figures test-20: factorial structure for boys and girls from 6 to 11 years old.

The factorial structure of two tests of cognitive style (the Children's Embedded Figures Test and the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20) and one test of cognitive ability (Raven Progressive Matrices) was examined in this study with a sample of 337 boys and 287 girls between ages 6 and 11 years. Factor I related to Impulsivity and Factor II related to cognitive ability and disembedding skills, which were stable across age groups and sex and accounted for 84.6% of variance.     

Interval length and time-use by children with AD/HD: a comparison of four models

Predictions made by 4 competing models of time use by children with AD/HD were tested using a computerized version of the Matching Familiar Figures Test in 2 studies. In Study 1 teacher-identified AD/HD children (N = 10) and non-AD/HD controls (N = 10) completed the task under 3 different trial duration conditions (5, 10, and 15 s). In Study 2 the same task was completed by a group of children with a diagnosis of Hyperkinetic Disorder (N = 12) and controls (N = 12). In both studies AD/HD children performed poorly on trials of both 5- and 15-s duration but as well as controls on the 10-s trials. This quadratic function provided support for the State Regulation Deficit model of time use in AD/HD. The value of tailoring the temporal features of learning contexts to the conceptual style of AD/HD children is discussed.     

Attributional Style and Self-Reported Depression Among Adolescents Inpatients

Eighteen adolescent inpatients with various diagnoses completed the Children's Depression Inventory and the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire. The correlations between the two scales were consistent with those obtained among nonclinical samples of children and adolescents. The data were consistent with their reformulated learned helpless theory of depression. Suggestions were offered for subsequent research with depressed adolescent inpatients.     

Reliability of the Matching Familiar Figures Test scores of learning disabled children.

The reliability of the Matching Familiar Figures Test with impulsive learning disabled boys was investigated. 20 children were tested in two sessions separated by a 2-mo. period. Significant correlations for response time and errors scores indicated a high level of stability over time. Educational implications were discussed.     

Responses to Depression in Children: Reconceptualizing the Relation Among Response Styles

We propose that researchers should utilize ratio scores when examining the response styles theory rather than examine each of the response styles separately. Higher ratio scores indicate a higher probability of engaging in ruminative, as opposed to distracting and problem solving, behaviors. In Phase One, we examined the factor structure and reliability of the Children's Response Styles Questionnaire (CRSQ) in a sample of 287 third through sixth grade schoolchildren. A two factor solution was obtained: (1) Rumination and (2) Distraction and Problem Solving. Both factors exhibited strong psychometric properties. In Phase Two, 140 children completed the CRSQ and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Six weeks later, children completed the CDI. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor solution fit the data well. In line with hypotheses, CRSQ ratio scores were more strongly associated with CDI residual change scores than were either CRSQ rumination or distraction and problem solving scores.     

The role of arousal in predicting impulsive and reflective children

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis arising from Farley's theory of arousal and stimulation seeking behavior. Specifically, the hypothesis was that impulsive children would be low arousal/high stimulation seekers while reflective children would be high arousal/low stimulation seekers. Seventy-one elementary school children were identified as reflective or impulsive using Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test. Trait arousal levels were then determined using the Strahan Sweat Bottle method. The results confirmed the hypothesis.     

Bender Gestalt signs as indicants of conceptual impulsivity.

Sixty children were individually administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test and the Bender Gestalt Test. The mean age of the subjects was 10 years, 11 months. A significant relationship was found between errors on the Bender Gestalt test and impulsivity. More specifically, increased or decreased loops (figure four or six), change in angulation, loops for circles and circles for dots or dots for circles were all significantly related to children's impulsivity.     

Problem-solving deficits and depressive symptoms among children

Depressive symptoms among 40 fourth- and fifth-grade students as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory, correlated highly with impaired problem solving at block designs (r = .64) and anagrams (r = .67). Similar impairments have been found among depressed adults, suggesting that depression among children may be continuous with depression among adults.     

Reflection-impulsivity in Mexican children: cross-cultural relationships

Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.     

Alternate forms of the matching familiar figures test: a critical note

Criticism is leveled at attempts to develop alternative forms of the Matching Familiar Figures test when the literature suggests that what is required is a more reliable test, not simply an alternate version.     

Alternate Forms of the Matching Familiar Figures Test: A Critical Note

Criticism is leveled at attempts to develop alternative forms of the Matching Familiar Figures test when the literature suggests that what is required is a more reliable test, not simply an alternate version.     

An exploratory factor analysis of children's depression inventory scores in young children of substance abusers

A factor analytic study of scores obtained on the Children's Depression Inventory from a sample of 202 young children (M = 7.5 yr., SD = 2.2) of alcoholics and substance abusers was completed. A principal components factor analysis with an oblique rotation yielded five separate factors related to Negative Self-concept, Acting-out. Somatic/Disturbed Symptoms, Mood, and Hopelessness. In previous factor analytic studies of the Children's Depression Inventory with normal and clinical populations the primary factor obtained was formed by mood-related items. In contrast, the primary factor of the present analysis was formed by items concerning perceptions of self-concept, not mood. These results corroborated previously reported data from the Child Behavior Checklist suggesting that the depressive symptoms displayed by children of substance abusers are related to self-concept and externalization.     

Educational Expectations and School Achievement of Urban African American Children

The mechanisms used to convey parents' and teachers' educational expectations for the academic achievement of low-income African American children were explored using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. A total of 712 children were studied. A model of mediated effects was used to test the processes of influence from parents' and teachers' expectations to sixth-grade outcomes. Children's perceptions of expectations were hypothesized to mediate the effect of expectations to school outcomes. Study findings revealed that these perceptions only partially mediated the effects of expectations to sixth-grade reading and math outcomes, yet added unique independent variance to these outcomes. Prior achievement emerged as a powerful mediator of the effects of early educational intervention and sociodemographic variables to sixth-grade outcomes. These findings suggest a need to further investigate the processes of communicating parent and teacher expectations.     

The development of posttraumatic stress disorder following four different types of traumatization

The Children's Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Inventory (CPTSDI) was used to identify 230 childhood posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases. Of these cases, 58 had been traumatized through direct experience, 128 through observation, 13 through verbal mediation, and 31 by combinations thereof. The 230 children and 35 controls completed the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). In addition, their conduct was rated on the Connor's Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) criteria. Each of the PTSD groups had significantly greater RCMAS, CDI, and CTRS scores than the non-clinical controls, but there were no differences between the four types of PTSD cases.     

Children's engagement in antidepressive activities

The relationship between depressive symptomatology and engagement in activities designed to cope with depression was examined among 42 children (8 to 14 years old), their parents, and 167 college students. The Beck Depression Inventory and Children's Depression Inventory were used to assess depression in adults and children, and adult and child forms of Rippere's (1977) Antidepressive Activity Questionnaire were employed to assess the frequency of engagement in and helpfulness of antidepressive activities. For children, depression was more strongly correlated with the helpfulness of than with the frequency of engagement in antidepressive activities; for adults, depression was more strongly related to the frequency than to the helpfulness of antidepressive activities. Girls reported that antidepressive activities were more helpful in combating depression than did boys; women engaged more frequently in antidepressive activities and found such activities more helpful in alleviating depression than did men. Little similarity was observed between the antidepressive activities of children and their parents.     

General intelligence,temperament, and the Matching Familiar Figures Test

To investigate the relationship between general intelligence g and temperament, highly intelligent 10-year-old children (N = 151) were compared with classmates of the same gender and socio-economic status but of average intelligence (N = 134). The two ability groups were administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) during home visits. The parents and teachers rated the temperament of the children. The results showed a consistent pattern: highly intelligent children are more task-oriented, e.g. less distractible and more controlled than their average counterparts. In the MFFT, gifted children not only gave a higher percentage of correct answers, but also showed longer (!) reaction times.     

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (Form A)

The present study reports the reliability and validity of the Norwegian version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale in non‐clinical and clinical populations. The participants were 344 young male military recruits, 41 healthy controls and 142 psychiatric outpatients. All the participants completed the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. The analysis of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale revealed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85, indicating satisfactory reliability. Evidence for the construct validity was obtained by the correlation between the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory (r?=?0.47) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (r?=?0.47). Finally, the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale significantly discriminated between clinically depressed, non‐depressed psychiatric patients and healthy controls. The results showed that the Norwegian version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale possess satisfactory psychometric properties suggesting that this instrument is appropriate for use as a cognitive measure in a Norwegian cultural context.