Current status of doctoral-level training in psychological testing.

Training directors of 82 American Psychological Association (APA)-approved doctoral programs in clinical psychology responded to a survey on the current status and recent changes in doctoral training in psychological assessment. Although testing continues to be a major focus of training, a slight decline in emphasis on assessment was noted, most notably with projective techniques. With few exceptions (e.g., NEO-PI, Personality Assessment Inventory), traditional tests were emphasized in coursework and also were considered "essential" for the practicing psychologist. Interestingly, there seems to be increased emphasis on the interview and neuropsychological testing compared to prior surveys of academic settings. Only 29% of the training directors reported that their programs have been significantly affected by managed care, suggesting that most academic programs are somewhat insulated from marketplace pressures. It is recommended that training programs balance their focus on traditional academic values with the realities of the clinical practice arena.

Internship training in psychological assessment: has managed care had an impact?

Training directors of 84 APA-approved internship programs in psychology responded to a survey on the current status and recent changes in internship training in psychological assessment. There appears to be a slight decline in emphasis on assessment in general, although it is still considered to be an important component of training. There was a surprising endorsement of traditional assessment instruments as important for clinical practice, in spite of a trend toward decreased emphasis on projective methods. The majority of programs have maintained the same degree of emphasis on objective measures, intelligence tests, behavioral methods, and the interview, while increasing emphasis on neuropsychological assessment. Less than half (43%) of the training directors reported that their programs have been significantly affected by managed care, suggesting that the majority of internship sites are somewhat insulated from present trends in marketplace pressures regarding reimbursement for psychological testing. The implications of potential future trends are discussed.

The impact of "managed care" on the practice of psychological testing: preliminary findings.

Although the impact of managed care constraints on assessment practices has received recent attention, a review of the literature found no data-based articles that address this issue. We report survey data on 137 members of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (Council for the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, 1996) on current testing practices. The majority (72%) reported that their use of tests has changed in the last 5 years due to managed care directives. These clinicians are doing less testing overall and restrict their pool of assessment instruments. The Rorschach inkblot technique (Rorschach, 1942), the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943), and the Wechsler Intelligence scales (Matarazzo, 1972) were the instruments most noted for disuse. Apparently, practitioners are relying more on short, brief self-report measures that tap targeted symptoms or problem areas, and less on tests that demand considerable clinicians' time. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Convergent validity of select scales of the MMPI and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist-Youth Self-report.

The convergent validity of select clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist-Youth Self-report was evaluated in a sample of 188 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Clinical scales of the MMPI (Scales 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 0) and of the Youth Self-report subscales of Somatic Complaints, Depressed, Aggressive, Delinquent, Thought Disorder, and Unpopular were selected for comparison based on their conceptual similarity. The extent to which scores for self-reported behavior on the Youth Self-report converged with scores on related clinical scales of the MMPI was evaluated by correlations and multiple regression. Concurrent validity for most comparisons between similar scales of the two measures was indicated and support the validity of the Youth Self-report as a self-report measure with an heterogeneous clinical sample of adolescents. The results establish a clear link between self-reported behaviors on the Youth Self-report and scores obtained on the select MMPI clinical scales which would conceptually be associated with those behaviors.

Impact of a natural disaster on preschool children: adjustment 14 months after a hurricane.

Fourteen months after a hurricane, young children who had experienced the storm showed significantly higher anxiety and withdrawal and more behavior problems than did children who had not. Behavioral problems decreased steadily over the six months following the storm. Mothers' distress in the hurricane's aftermath was associated with the longevity of their children's emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Children's coping styles and report of depressive symptoms following a natural disaster.

The present study examined the relationship between children's coping styles (Spirito, Stark, & Williams, 1988) and self-reported levels of depressive symptoms (Kovacs, 1983) following a major stressor. 257 third- to fifth-grade children consented to participate in the study, 5 months following a hurricane. The number of coping strategies employed was positively related to depression scores, whereas coping efficacy was negatively related to depression scores. Social withdrawal, self-blaming, and emotional regulation were associated with more severe depressive symptoms. Lower levels of symptomatology were found among children who sought social support and engaged in cognitive restructuring. The overall symptom level in the sample did not exceed that of normative samples. Results are discussed in terms of competing theories of childhood depression.

Human figure drawings: validity in assessing intellectual level and academic achievement.

In a sample of 216 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients, significant but low correlations were found between Goodenough-Harris (GH) drawing scores and both Full Scale IQs and academic achievement. The percentage of subjects correctly classified in appropriate IQ categories ranged from 35 to 44%; the percentage of misclassified subjects ranged from 56 to 65%. Consideration of visual-motor integration, using the Bender-Gestalt, did not improve the accuracy of G-H scores in predicting IQ scores in this sample. These results indicate that human figure drawings should not be substituted for other well-established intelligence and achievement tests nor used as an additional measure of these constructs when one is evaluating psychiatric patients.

Assessment of short-term visual memory in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

This study provides normative data on 270 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients using the Bender Recall technique as a measure of short-term visual memory. In addition, the authors present normative data on another immediate recall technique using the Coding section of the WISC-R. These findings are examined in light of age differences and IQ scores. Detailed instructions for administering the Coding Recall technique are presented.

Brief Rorschach records with children and adolescents.

In order to determine the frequency with which children and adolescents give brief Rorschach (R less than 14) records and to test the hypothesis that brief records represent a resistance to testing, the psychological evaluations of 439 admissions to an inpatient unit were reviewed. Of the records reviewed, 16.6% were found to contain less than 14 responses. When the complete test protocol of those subjects who provided brief records were compared with those of a matched group, it was found that the group with brief records failed to complete the other parts of the evaluation significantly more often than did those subjects who did not give brief records. There was no significant difference between the two groups on IQ scores or on self-report scores of depression, anxiety, and social desirability. Result are interpreted as supporting Exner's (1988) hypothesis that brief records represent a form of resistance to being tested.

The Bender-Gestalt as a method of personality assessment with adolescents.

Normative data are presented for two Bender-Gestalt scoring systems with a sample of "normal" controls (n = 150), emotionally disturbed (n = 140), and mentally retarded/neurologically impaired (MR/NI) adolescents (n = 47), aged 12 to 17 years. The results failed to support the use of Hutt's (1985) Psychopathology Scale and Adolescent Configuration in differentiating the "normal" and emotionally disturbed groups, but did support their use in differentiating the MR/NI group from the other two. The Hutt scores also were found to be related inversely to age and IQ. By contrast, the Koppitz scores differentiated the three groups from each other and were not related significantly to IQ. The results supported limited use of Koppitz's (1975) Emotional Indicators as a "sign" approach to brief screening for emotional disturbance in adolescents.

Rorschach Egocentricity Index and self-concept in children and adolescents.

In a sample of 65 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients, the hypothesized relation between the Egocentricity Index from the Rorschach and standard self-report measures of self-concept was not supported. Although the sample as a group had a markedly low mean Egocentricity Index, self-reported self-concept was at a normative level. The validity of the Egocentricity Index and self-report measures of self-concept is discussed, and guidelines for their interpretation are presented.

Assessment of depression in adolescents: objective and projective measures.

This study is a multimethod assessment of depressive features in a sample of 60 adolescent inpatients. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between self-report measures of depression and Rorschach variables commonly associated with depression. Patients represented a variety of diagnostic categories in order to determine whether information gathered through assessment instruments was related to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. [DSM-III], American Psychiatric Association, 1980) diagnoses of depression. Findings indicated that this sample of adolescents was highly defensive and emotionally constricted. There were several significant relationships between self-report measures and Rorschach indicators of depression. However, in general, the Rorschach variables were not strongly related to depression. The self-report measures were more accurate than Rorschach variables in discriminating between depressed and nondepressed subjects.

The Bender-Gestalt with adolescents: comparison of two scoring systems.

The present study was designed to evaluate the relative efficacy of two different scoring systems (Koppitz, 1975; Lacks, 1984) for use in evaluating Bender-Gestalt performance by adolescents. Normative data are presented for the two scoring systems with a sample of "normal" controls (N = 150), emotionally disturbed (N = 140), and mentally retarded/neurologically impaired adolescents (N = 47), aged 12-17. Results suggested that age and psychopathology were not related to the quality of the Bender-Gestalt reproductions of these subjects. An inverse relationship was found between cognitive ability and visual motor skills. Data obtained from these samples of adolescents showed a high degree of consistency between the scoring systems, which suggests that either scoring procedure is suitable for evaluating the Bender-Gestalt performance of adolescents.