Objective To describe the psychometric properties of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) interview, which surveys additional disorders not assessed in prior K-SADS, contains improved probes and anchor points, includes diagnosis-specific impairment ratings, generates DSM-III-R and DSM-IV diagnoses, and divides symptoms surveyed into a screening interview and five diagnostic supplements. Method Subjects were 55 psychiatric outpatients and 11 normal controls (aged 7 through 17 years). Both parents and children were used as informants. Concurrent validity of the screen criteria and the K-SADS-PL diagnoses was assessed against standard self-report scales. Interrater ( n = 15) and test-retest ( n = 20) reliability data were also collected (mean retest interval: 18 days; range: 2 to 38 days). Results Rating scale data support the concurrent validity of screens and K-SADS-PL diagnoses. Interrater agreement in scoring screens and diagnoses was high (range: 93% to 100%). Test-retest reliability κ coefficients were in the excellent range for present and/or lifetime diagnoses of major depression, any bipolar, generalized anxiety, conduct, and oppositional defiant disorder (.77 to 1.00) and in the good range for present diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (.63 to .67). Conclusion Results suggest the K-SADS-PL generates reliable and valid child psychiatric diagnoses. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry , 1997, 36(7): 980–988.

Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL): Initial Reliability and Validity Data

This paper presents a critical appraisal of resilience, a construct connoting the maintenance of positive adaptation by individuals despite experiences of significant adversity. As empirical research on resilience has burgeoned in recent years, criticisms have been levied at work in this area. These critiques have generally focused on ambiguities in definitions and central terminology; heterogeneity in risks experienced and competence achieved by individuals viewed as resilient; instability of the phenomenon of resilience; and concerns regarding the usefulness of resilience as a theoretical construct. We address each identified criticism in turn, proposing solutions for those we view as legitimate and clarifying misunderstandings surrounding those we believe to be less valid. We conclude that work on resilience possesses substantial potential for augmenting the understanding of processes affecting at-risk individuals. Realization of the potential embodied by this construct, however, will remain constrained without continued scientific attention to some of the serious conceptual and methodological pitfalls that have been noted by skeptics and proponents alike.

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The Construct of Resilience: A Critical Evaluation and Guidelines for Future Work

Objective To describe the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a brief measure of the prosocial behavior and psychopathology of 3–16-year-olds that can be completed by parents, teachers, or youths. Method A nationwide epidemiological sample of 10,438 British 5–15-year-olds obtained SDQs from 96% of parents, 70% of teachers, and 91% of 11–15-year-olds. Blind to the SDQ findings, all subjects were also assigned DSM-IV diagnoses based on a clinical review of detailed interview measures. Results The predicted five-factor structure (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, peer, prosocial) was confirmed. Internalizing and externalizing scales were relatively "uncontaminated" by one another. Reliability was generally satisfactory, whether judged by internal consistency (mean Cronbach α: .73), cross-informant correlation (mean: 0.34), or retest stability after 4 to 6 months (mean: 0.62). SDQ scores above the 90th percentile predicted a substantially raised probability of independently diagnosed psychiatric disorders (mean odds ratio: 15.7 for parent scales, 15.2 for teacher scales, 6.2 for youth scales). Conclusion The reliability and validity of the SDQ make it a useful brief measure of the adjustment and psychopathology of children and adolescents.

Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire.

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

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From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development

Etude de la coherence entre differentes sources (269 echantillons utilisees dans 119 etudes) concernant les evaluations des problemes affectifs et comportementaux d'enfants et d'adolescents âges de 1 1/2 a 19 ans

Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity.

Objective To illuminate the development of psychopathology by tracing 6-year predictive paths to outcomes assessed in terms of empirically based syndromes. Method A national sample assessed at ages 4 through 12 years via parent reports was reassessed 3 and 6 years later via parent, teacher, and self-reports. Results For syndromes having the clearest DSM counterparts, cross-informant predictive paths revealed similar traitlike patterns for Aggressive Behavior in both sexes; Delinquent Behavior was less traitlike, with greater sex differences in predictive paths; the Attention Problems syndrome was developmentally stable, but, surprisingly, it was associated with more diverse difficulties among girls than boys; conversely, Anxious/Depressed was associated with more diverse difficulties among boys than girls. Conclusions Quantification of problems via empirically based syndromes can detect important sex, age, and developmental variations that may be masked by uniform diagnostic cutoff points for both sexes and diverse ages. This may be especially true for diagnostic cutoff points derived mainly from clinical cases of one sex, such as depression for girls versus attention and conduct disorders for boys.

Six-year predictors of problems in a national sample of children and youth: I. Cross-informant syndromes.

Principles, Methods, and Goals of Empirically Based Assessment Strategies for Using Empirically Based Assessment The Nature and Correlates of Empirically Based Syndromes Applying Empirically Based Assessment Case Illustrations for Elementary School Ages Case Illustrations for Adolescents Illustrations of Special Assessment Needs Essential Features of Empirically Based Assessment

Empirically Based Assessment of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Practical Applications

Quantitative and categorical indices of psychopathology are reported for a nationally representative longitudinal sample assessed via eight empirically derived cross-informant syndromes, internalizing, externalizing, and total problems. Results showed medium to large stabilities for parents' ratings during a 3-year interval on all comparable scales. Predictive correlations between time 1 parents' ratings and time 2 teacher and self-ratings were weaker than parent-to-parent correlations. Classification of children as deviant showed weaker predictive relations than did quantitative scores. Odds ratios showed that children classified as deviant by parents' time 1 ratings were much more likely to be deviant at time 2 on corresponding parent, teacher, and self-ratings than were children initially classified as nondeviant.

Three-Year Course of Behavioral/Emotional Problems in a National Sample of 4− to 16-Year-Olds: I. Agreement among Informants

Objective To test developmental paths from adolescent syndromes and other candidate predictors to young adult syndromes. Method A national sample assessed at ages 13 through 16 and 16 through 19 years was reassessed at 19 through 22 years in terms of six syndromes derived empirically from parent and self-reports, two syndromes derived only from parent reports, and one derived from self-reports. Results Several young adult syndromes were similar to adolescent syndromes and were strongly predicted by these syndromes. A new syndrome designated as Shows Off and an adult Aggressive Behavior syndrome were both predicted by the adolescent Aggressive Behavior syndrome. This indicates a developmental transition away from overt aggression among some aggressive youths but not others. A syndrome designated as Irresponsible was predicted by the adolescent Attention Problems syndrome and may be an adult phenotype of attention deficit disorder. Surprisingly, attention problems were associated with more diverse problems among females than males. Conclusions There are strong predictive relations from adolescent to adult syndromes. Sex differences in predictive paths argue against basing assumptions about both sexes on findings for one sex.

Stephanie H. McConaughy

Papers

Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity.

Six-year predictors of problems in a national sample of children and youth: I. Cross-informant syndromes.

Empirically Based Assessment of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Practical Applications

Three-Year Course of Behavioral/Emotional Problems in a National Sample of 4− to 16-Year-Olds: I. Agreement among Informants

Six-Year Predictors of Problems in a National Sample: III. Transitions to Young Adult Syndromes