Presents a systematic touch exploration format for screening child abuse. The technique involves simple drawings with child participation that review forms of touching in a child's life and screens for physical and emotional abuse as well. Comparisons between screening outcomes and completed case conclusions indicate a bias toward underreporting…

Examined possible existence of structural and content elements in Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) significant to eating-disordered population. Findings from 81 women with eating-disorders revealed that profile of eating disordered subjects did not vary from control group profile except for groundline and falling apart trees. (Author/NB)

Summarizes the results of an international conference held in Sweden. The group's mandate was to evaluate existing knowledge regarding the ways in which child sexual abuse allegations could be investigated most productively. This document represents a statement summarizing areas of agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in this area.…

This article discusses legal issues relating to expert testimony in child sexual abuse litigation, including when expert testimony is permitted, qualifications of expert witnesses, permissible bases supporting expert testimony, expert testimony on ultimate factual and legal issues, the reasonable certainty standard of expert testimony, and…

Thirty publications were examined to locate literature on acculturation and mental health among Hispanics immigrants. Points of convergence, problems, limitations, and new directions for research are discussed. Research is needed to discover how acculturation shapes the experience and expression of psychological distress. (CJS)

Focuses on one judgmental issue in cognitive psychology that depicts mixed results--subjects' use of and failure to use base rates in category predictions. Examines conditions that induce or prevent subjects from using base rates, and uses these conditions to analyze study of special education decision making. Evaluates potential of base rate…

Study of 119 counseling psychologists revealed that counselor individual differences in cognitive complexity, but not preferences for client problems, moderated cognitive processes that lead to bias in clinical judgment. Counseling psychologists with lower cognitive complexity were more likely to form biased clinical judgments than were those with…

Describes University of Michigan's Child and Adolescent Mood Disorder Program (CAMDP), a program developed in 1988 and based on a medical specialty clinic model. Explains CAMDP staffing and patient identification; discusses assessment procedures, illustrated by case examples; and considers a variety of treatment options, including medication,…

The systems approach assembles in a single assessment setting four basic instruments to determine the current functioning status of the individual for the purpose of better understanding the dynamics involved in severe behavior problems: (1) the Democratic Maturity Test ; (2) the Life Fulfillment Inventory; (3) the Voluntary Control Test; and (4)…

Extrapolated data from a 1990 study of 54-month-old children to examine attachment representations. Subjects' story completions were scored for idea units and scriptedness, revealing advanced validity compared to those of younger subjects. Concluded that analysis of cognitive variables may be used to understand attachment representations and their…

Suggests, despite serious objections, that it is arguable that the moral domain should be included in psychological appraisals of children, and that the absence of moral dictates could be considered a "mental disorder." Discusses the possible individual and social benefits of including moral descriptors in child evaluations. (DSK)

Examines the uses of observations generated during testing through (a) qualitative synthesis of available research literature, (b) a study of a national sample of children, and (c) a study of children referred for psychoeducational evaluations. Results demonstrate that behavioral and temperament qualities evaluated by test observations are related…

Six physically maltreated children and 12 matched non-maltreated children (ages 4-8) were asked to draw their "favorite kind of day." Drawings were compared on three criteria: inclement weather, size, and movement of weather. Results showed that over a period of 18 months, maltreated and non-maltreated children consistently drew similar drawings.…

Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the United States. Hispanic children typically come from working class homes with parents who have limited English language skills and educational training. This presents challenges to psychologists who assess these children using traditional IQ tests because of the considerable verbal and…

The risk for internalizing disorders in children with learning disabilities is frequently debated in the research community and empirical responses are equivocal. For educators and clinicians, the frequent assumption is that children with dyslexia also have at least subtle emotional problems. In this study, school-age children with reading…