The development of a child assessment interview for research and clinical use

The Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) was developed to address the need for a standardized child interview that could be used for research and clinical purposes. The CAS has several distinguishing characteristics: (1) Questions and responses are standardized, (2) the format was designed to enhance rapport with the child, and (3) information necessary for DSM III childhood diagnoses is explicitly solicited. The CAS was administered to 32 child outpatients, 18 inpatients, and 37 normal controls. Derived scores were obtained for total psychopathology, 11 content areas, and 9 symptom complexes. Interrater reliability for the total CAS score was quite high. The CAS was able to discriminate among the three groups in total score indicating degree of psychopathology, on 9 of the 11 content areas, and on 8 of the 9 symptom complexes. Significant correlations were found between the CAS and maternal report of child behavior and between the CAS and child selfreport of internal affects. It was concluded that the CAS has adequate reliability and validity, although further research is indicated.     

When Is a Parent Out of the Picture? Different Custody,Different Perceptions

This study investigated how 200 children from mother-, father-, or joint-custody arrangements perceived their divorced families. The authors argue that it is not the type of custody that shapes the child's view of whether one parent is peripheral but, rather, the nature of relationships within the various custody arrangements.     

EXPANDING THE IMPACT OF BEHAVIORAL STAFF MANAGEMENT: A LARGE-SCALE,LONG-TERM APPLICATION IN SCHOOLS SERVING SEVERELY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS

Experimental evaluations of behavioral staff management procedures usually have been limited to relatively small-scale demonstration studies. We evaluated a large-scale, long-term application of a staff management program designed to improve the functional utility of educational services for severely handicapped persons. The intervention, involving a brief in-service program followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was implemented by three principals in four schools involving 21 classrooms. Implementation of the management procedures was consistently accompanied by increases in student involvement in functional educational tasks in each classroom. Further, the improved services continued throughout a 2-year follow-up period. Staff responses to a questionnaire indicated a high degree of staff acceptance of the management program. Results are discussed in terms of expanding the use of behavioral supervisory procedures from experimental demonstrations to actual adoption by existing human service agencies.     

Adolescent Developmental Disruptions: Haunted by the Future,Guarded by Haunting Ancestors

This article will explore two potentially disruptive developmental phenomena that occur during life transitions. One is the role of anticipatory haunting during adolescence, and the other is the strict adherence to an already defined life narrative at the gate to young adulthood (Levy-Warren, 2016a, 2016b). Historically, in psychoanalytic theory, we have looked at flaws in an adolescent’s foundation as causal in adolescent paralysis. Anticipatory haunting, fearing what is to come, also can be traumatic enough to disrupt an adolescent’s development. Similarly, in the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood, we have assumed that the past must be left behind for the youth to progress in development and that focusing on the past can inhibit the envisioning of a future. In this instance, the necessity for a particular kind of reworking of the young adult’s history so that a future can be envisioned is articulated. Each of these points of view represents a departure from traditional ways of understanding and treating developmental disruptions.