The booklet outlines New York state school policy and procedures for screening students for scoliosis, lateral curvature of the spine. It is explained that screening is designed to discover spinal deformities early enough to prevent surgery. Planning aspects, including organizing a planning team for the school district, are discussed. Among…

Presents as a formal model the process by which New York City Public School children are identified and provided with substance abuse prevention education or intervention services. The aligning of the students with specific services is like a psychological diagnostic-prescriptive process. Displays schematically the decision model, differential…

On any given day, over 100,000 youth are held in custody in juvenile justice facilities across the country, either awaiting trial in detention centers or having been placed in residential facilities after being convicted of delinquencies. A growing body of research suggests that most of these youth meet criteria for at least one mental disorder,…

The variety of separate syndromes which present themselves to the clinician are said to belie any unitary statement about the child with minimal brain dysfunction. (Author)

Compared unipolar depressives with chronic intermittent depressives on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Results indicated mean profiles did not differ significantly, however, an MMPI clinician was able to sort the profiles into two groups. Hypothesizes that unipolar and chronic depressives may not differ on severity of…

Critically evaluates in terms of predictive and concurrent validity a widely used method of identifying children at risk in peer relations. This method emphasizes children's total rate of peer interaction, regardless of the quality or skillfulness of the interaction. Recommendations are given for future research in this area. (Author/DB)

This study sought to determine whether children of schizophrenic and manic-depressive parents would evidence more psychopathology on psychological testing than children of nonpsychotic parents and whether psychopathology in children at risk would be similar to adult psychopathology. Variables of age, sex, and race were considered. (Author/SJL)

The authors contend that current trends in education are both disenfranchising and ignoring children (particularly the slow learners and borderline retarded) who could benefit from individualized instruction. Problems with the reliance on clinical judgement to identify handicapped children are discussed. (SBH)

Notes that, as American population ages and mental health counselors focus services on older adults, the identification, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of dementia will become valuable clinical skill. Presents nontechnical information regarding dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct dementia, testing, and therapeutic…

Reports results of comparing two screening instruments designed to identify youth with substance use problems. For one out of five youths, the two instruments gave different diagnoses. The instruments do not predict adolescent problems or substance use over time substantially better than a simpler measure of the frequency of substance use. (LKS)

Two studies involving approximately 3,500 college students were conducted to establish and validate a self-report method of identifying nonclinical young adults with significant borderline personality disorder features and to evaluate clinical correlates of this classification across relevant areas of functioning. Results support the validity of…

This study compared the speech of five children (ages 5 and 6) with Down syndrome across single word samples elicited from tests and connected speech samples elicited during play. Analysis indicated that connected speech samples provided fewer total words and word tokens and sometimes failed to target certain later developing phonemes. Clinical…

The inclusion of Asperger's disorder (AD) in the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) has, as one could predict, led to a great increase in its diagnosis and interest in those so diagnosed. It is my impression, and that of others (Filipek et al., 1999), that, similar to autistic disorder, it has shared the same fate as being…

Early diagnosis of selective mutism (SM) is an important concern. SM prevalence is higher than initially thought and at least three times higher in immigrant language minority children. Although the DSM-IV precludes diagnosing SM in immigrant children with limited language proficiency (as children acquiring a second language may normally undergo a…

In this literature review, the author focuses on several ethical considerations in case conceptualization and diagnosis, including diagnostic training and competence. Meeting the American Counseling Association's (1995) ethical standard for diagnostic training has several ethical implications for counselors, counselor educators, and supervisors.…