Obtaining Systematic Teacher Reports of Disruptive Behavior Disorders Utilizing DSM-IV

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt AD/HD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale (VADTRS) and provides preliminary normative data from a large, geographically defined population. The VADTRS consists of the complete list of DSM-IV AD/HD symptoms, a screen for other disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety and depression, and ratings of academic and classroom behavior performance. Teachers in one suburban county completed the scale for their students during 2 consecutive years. Statistical methods included (a) exploratory and confirmatory latent variable analyses of item data, (b) evaluation of the internal consistency of the latent dimensions, (c) evaluation of latent structure concordance between school year samples, and (d) preliminary evaluation of criterion-related validity. The instrument comprises four behavioral dimensions and two performance dimensions. The behavioral dimensions were concordant between school years and were consistent with a priori DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Correlations between latent dimensions and relevant, known disorders or problems varied from .25 to .66.     

Bulimia: New Mental Health Problem on the Campus?

Thomas Hohenshil and Rodney K. Goodyear : Special Assignment Editors Regina C. Casper, Elke D. Eckert, Katherine A. Halmi, Solomon C. Goldberg, and John M. Davis, Bulimia: Its Incidence and Clinical Importance in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1980, 37, 1030–1035. Paul E. Garfinkel, Harvey Moldofsky, and David M. Garner, The Heterogeneity of Anorexia Nervosa: Bulimia as a Distinct Subgroup. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1980, 37, 1036–1040.     

Toward a psychology of courage: Implications for the change (healing) process

Courage is a virtue which has been held in highest regard by all societies. In an age in which courage and its companions, human dignity and commitment, seem sadly lacking, it is imperative that we reacquaint ourselves with the implications of these attributes. In this paper we demonstrate the integral relationship between courage and intimacy and the importance of the concept of therapeutic caring to their development. We also introduce the theory of the double in which the self, in the act of intimacy, seeks to come together with its contradictory and disavowed attributes. These concepts are related to a psychotherapeutic paradigm in which we examine the requirements courage, intimacy, and caring impose upon practitioner and client.Paper presented at the 25th winter meeting of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, New York City, December, 1981.     

The death crisis and pastoral counseling

Death is an event that presents a crisis to the family system. Conceptualizing death as a stressor event and recognizing the variety of coping resources present in and available to bereaved families and individuals, along with the meaning attached to death, can help interventionists to perceive stategies for providing assistance in time of grief. Pastoral counselors are often needed to interpret death from a faith perspective, yet they may need to interpret the family's reaction to the death crisis in order to facilitate their readjustment. Analysis of the death event using Reuben Hill's crisis equation provides a workable conceptual framework.     

Agreement among teacher,peer, and self-ratings of children's aggression,withdrawal, and likability

This study examined the relationship among teacher, peer, and self-ratings of children's social behavior. The Pupil Evaluation Inventory was completed by 172 first-graders, 346 fourth-graders, 283 seventh-graders, and 30 teachers. Groups of deviant responders and controls were also selected from the total sample on the basis of peer-rated aggression and withdrawal scores. Interrater agreement was consistently greater between peer and teacher ratings than between self-ratings and either peer or teacher ratings. Discrepancies between raters were greatest for children with more deviant scores, with peer ratings providing the highest estimates of deviant behavior, and self ratings yielding the lowest. Self ratings were lower than teacher or peer ratings on aggression and withdrawal, and higher on likability. Aggression produced greatest agreement between raters. Agreement was uninfluenced by the cognitive maturity of peer evaluators. The results suggest that the selection of raters should be influenced by the class of behaviors to be evaluated and the context in which they occur.This research was funded by Québec Ministry of Social Affairs Grant RS 281 to Jane Ledingham and Alex Schwartzman. The authors wish to thank Lisa Serbin for her helpful comments on this article, and Claude Senneville, Geoff Selig, and Denise Morin for their assistance in the data collection and analysis.     

Cognitive complexity and career maturity among college students

The role of cognitive complexity in the career maturity of college students was investigated. Simple and multiple correlational analyses were performed upon data from 99 college students who were administered the Attitude Scale and Competence Test of the Career Maturity Inventory, the Bieri Repertory Test, and the Bodden Cognitive Differentiation Grid. Results generally supported the prediction that career maturity would be found to be positively associated with cognitive complexity.     

Effects of peer presence on sex-typing of children's play behavior

Effect of peer presence on the sex-typed toy choices of 3- and 4-year-olds was investigated in a repeated measures experimental design. Twenty-six girls and thirty-six boys were tested under three conditions: (a) alone; (b) in the presence of a same-sex peer; and (c) in the presence of an opposite-sex peer. Amount of time spent playing with three feminine- and three masculine-stereotyped toys was recorded. For both boys and girls, play with “sex role-inappropriate” toys was significantly lower in the presence of an opposite-sex peer than in the solitary condition. Across conditions boys exhibited less play with opposite-sex-typed toys than girls. Rate of play with opposite-sex-typed toys increased in successive trials for both sexes. These results indicate that the presence of an opposite-sex peer functions as a discriminative stimulus for avoidance of “sex role-inappropriate” play in preschoolers and suggests that preschoolers may have a history of differential reinforcement for sex-typed play in the presence of peers.     

Implications of positive and negative sociometric status for assessing the social competence of young children

Positive and negative sociometric status were examined with reference to observed classroom behavior and performance on two laboratory measures of social skills: decoding emotion from facial expression and referential communication. Based on a sample of 38 preschool children, results indicated different patterns of correlations for liked (positive nomination) and disliked (negative nomination) scores. High-liked children were observed to spend more time in positive interaction with peers and less time in solitary play or alone with an adult. High-disliked children scored less well on both laboratory measures. Using median splits on the liked and disliked dimensions, results indicated that children who were rated by their peers as Low-Liked/High-Disliked were the most deviant with respect to both classroom behaviors and task scores. The importance of obtaining both positive and negative nominations in investigations of social competence is stressed. Implications of the results for the identification of preschool children with social problems and the planning of intervention strategies for these children are discussed.