chapter 4 (assessing and treating children’s problems)

Question 1

academic achievement

Answer 1

knowledge and skills that children learn through formal and informal educational experiences; typically reflects reading, math, and written language.

Question 2

affect

Answer 2

a child’s short-term emotional expression; assessed by observation

Question 3

behaviour therapy

Answer 3

a system of psychotherapy that focuses on children’s overt actions; tries to change behaviour by altering environmental contingencies that either elicit the behaviour or maintain it over time.

Question 4

cognitive therapy

Answer 4

a system of psychotherapy that focuses on children’s thoughts; identifies and challenges cognitive biases or distortions that contribute to maladaptive actions or emotions

Question 5

common factors

Answer 5

features shared by all forms of effective psychotherapy, including a supportive relationship, a plausible explanation for the person’s problem, and a method for alleviating that problem

Question 6

construct validity

Answer 6

the degree to which test scores assess the construct of interest; usually supported by strong correlations with similar construct us (convergent validity) and weak correlations with dissimilar constructs (discriminant validity)

Question 7

content validity

Answer 7

the degree to which items are relevant to the construct of interest; usually supported by asking experts to rate each item

Question 8

criterion-related validity

Answer 8

the degree to which test scores can be used to infer a probable standing on some external variable of interest; usually supported when test scores are associated with outcomes at the same point in time (concurrent validity) or in the future (predictive validity)

Question 9

cultural formulation interview

Answer 9

an interview used to gather information about families’ racial, ethnic, and cultural identities and how these identities affect their current problems, strengths, and preferences for treatment

Question 10

culturally adapted treatment

Answer 10

modifying evidence-based psychotherapy to fit families’ social-cultural context and values

Question 11

diagnostic interview

Answer 11

the most common assessment technique in which the clinician collects data regarding the child and family’s presenting problem, history, and current functioning.

Question 12

dodo verdict

Answer 12

a term used to describe the finding that no single system of psychotherapy works best under all circumstances

Question 13

effectiveness

Answer 13

the effects of therapy under real-world conditions (ex: therapists using a wide range of treatment approaches, clients with comorbid problems)

Question 14

efficacy

Answer 14

the effects of therapy under optimal conditions (ex: well-trained and closely supervised therapists, carefully selected clients with single problems)

Question 15

family systems therapy

Answer 15

a system of psychotherapy that views the entire family as the “client”; improvement in one member’s behaviour will necessarily change all members of the family

Question 16

functional analysis of behaviour

Answer 16

an assessment technique in which the clinician attempts to identify the antecedent events that elicit a behaviour and the environmental consequences that maintain it over time

Question 17

insight

Answer 17

during a mental status exam, the degree to which the child recognizes that he might have a psychological problem

Question 18

intelligence

Answer 18

a broad construct related to people’s abilities to adapt to their environments, to solve problems, and to learn and use information accurately and efficiently

Question 19

interpersonal therapy

Answer 19

a system of psychotherapy that focuses on the quality of relationships with others and helps people cope with changes to these relationships over time

Question 20

intersectionality

Answer 20

a term used to describe the way a person’s social-cultural factors and/or identities interact to either promote or hinder their development

Question 21

judgment

Answer 21

during a mental status exam, the child’s ability to consider the consequences of behaviour before acting

Question 22

mental status exam

Answer 22

a brief assessment of the child’s current functioning in three broad areas:
1. appearance and actions
2. emotions
3. cognition

Question 23

mood

Answer 23

a child’s long-term emotional disposition; usually assessed by self-report

Question 24

multi-informant assessment

Answer 24

the process of gathering data from several different people (ex: parents, teachers, child) to obtain an estimate of functioning across settings

Question 25

multimethod assessment

Answer 25

the process of gathering data in a number of different ways (ex: self-report, observation, testing) to obtain a more complete picture of functioning

Question 26

norm-referenced tests

Answer 26

tests that yield scores that quantify the degree to which a child’s performance on the test deviates from the scores of his or her peers

Question 27

normal distribution

Answer 27

a bell-shaped distribution of scores in which most most scores fall near the mean and fewer scores are at the extremes

Question 28

orientation

Answer 28

during a mental status exam, the child’s awareness of person, place, and time

Question 29

personality

Answer 29

a person’s relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and overt actions

Question 30

presenting problem

Answer 30

the family’s primary reason(s) for seeking help

Question 31

psychodynamic therapy

Answer 31

a system of psychotherapy that focuses on unconscious thoughts and feelings that affect children’s functioning; often attends to transference— that is, the client’s attitude and pattern of responding to the therapist.

Question 32

psychological assessment

Answer 32

the process of gathering data about children and families in order to reach valid conclusions about their current functioning and future well-being

Question 33

psychosocial history

Answer 33

a portion of the diagnostic interview in which the clinician gathers information about the child’s developmental, educational, medical, and psychological past

Question 34

psychotherapy

Answer 34

a professional relationship between at least two people with the goal of alleviating distress or impairment, and promoting growth and adaptation; this goal is usually achieved by altering the client’s thoughts, feelings, or actions

Question 35

rapport

Answer 35

an aspect of the therapeutic relationship in which the client believes that the therapist understands his or her feelings and is willing to participate in the initial phase of treatment

Question 36

reliability

Answer 36

the consistency of scores generated by a psychological test; includes test-retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency types

Question 37

standardization

Answer 37

a property of evidence-based tests; indicates that tests are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way to all examinées.

Question 38

structural diagnostic interview

Answer 38

an assessment process in which the clinician systematically reviews all of the major psychiatric diagnoses with children and/or parents to determine whether the child meets criteria for any diagnosis

Question 39

therapeutic alliance

Answer 39

the collaborative relationship between the client and therapist that is built on trust and both parties are working toward shared goals

Question 40

validity

Answer 40

a test’s ability to accurately reflect a desired construct for a specific purpose; includes content, construct, and criterion-related types