Objective: In children with ADHD who have comorbid disruptive behavior diagnoses distinctions between oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) remain unclear. The authors investigate differences between ODD and CD in a large clinical sample of children with ADHD. Method: Consecutively referred and systematically assessed male…

The authors reviewed 96,804 diagnoses from student visits to a student health center over a three-year period. Diagnoses coded for international students were compared to those for domestic students. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

This report takes advantage of a natural experiment to compare length of hospital stay and use of diagnostic services among internists' patients admitted to a university hospital or to a neighboring community hospital. Cost differences were largely due to greater use of diagnostic services at university hospitals. (LBH)

This study diagnosed 39 autistic adolescents using both the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) and the revised version (DSM-III-R) criteria. New DSM-III-R criteria include both verbal and nonverbal impairments, stressing communication and its social use. DSM-III criteria identified 25 children as autistic, while DSM-III-R…

Clinician diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD) were compared to the diagnoses of CD generated by a structured interview against an observed criterion. Participants were 534 youth from a large residential program in the Midwest for delinquent youth. Rates of in-program CD behaviors were gathered from staff observations of the youth over a 9-month…

Dementia status of 273 adults with mental retardation was rated based upon two extensive evaluations conducted 18 months apart. Overall, 184 individuals did not have dementia, 33 had possible or definite dementia, and 66 had findings suggesting uncertain or questionable status. These ratings were compared to binary classifications (dementia vs. no…

Context: Although clinical guidelines recommend routine screening and treatment for obesity in primary care, lack of agreement between physicians and patients about the need for obesity treatment in the primary care setting may be an unexplored factor contributing to the obesity epidemic. Purpose and Methods: To better understand this dynamic, we…

Autism diagnostic practices among school and clinical psychologists, particularly those using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), were examined using national survey results (N = 132). School and clinical psychologists were similar in following the Best Practice Guidelines for screening, diagnosis and assessment. School…

Previous studies suggest that complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapy use in children with chronic illnesses is higher than in children in the general population. In this study, we investigated patterns of CAM therapy use in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD, n = 50) as compared to a control population of children…

Objective: We evaluated correlates of the diagnosis of ADHD in youth by informant source. Method: Ninety-four pairs of mother reports and youth self-reports on ADHD were independently assessed, using diagnostic interviews from a large study of youth of both genders with and without ADHD. Comparisons were made on measures of interpersonal, school,…

This study compared parent and child responses to a symptom questionnaire as a means of determining whether child and parent responses are equally valuable in case-detection procedures. We completed a study validating a multistage case-detection procedure. The case-detection procedure classified students into 3 categories based on their parents'…

Objective: To assess the impact of comorbid anxiety on treatment for adolescent depression in an effectiveness study of interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents (IPT-A). Method: A randomized clinical trial was conducted from April 1, 1999, through July 31, 2002. Sixty-three depressed adolescents, ages 12 to 18, received either IPT-A…

Clinicians use a common practice of reporting age or grade equivalent derived scores, but problems of interpretation exist for such scores. This article examines derived comparison score issues and recommends use of scores of relative standing such as percentile ranks or standard scores in contrast to use of developmental scores like age and grade…

Suicide assessment and prediction are important functions performed by psychiatrists. Although the specificity and sensitivity of assessment instruments are poor, trainees are instructed to become proficient in their application. The occurrence of suicides during training confronts trainees with personal and professional limitations. The charts of…