Measuring Serious Emotional Disturbance In Children

The workshop summarized in this report was organized as part of a study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with the goal of assisting SAMHSA in its responsibilities of expanding the collection of behavioral health data in several areas. The workshop brought together experts in child mental health, psychiatric epidemiology and survey methods to facilitate discussion of the most suitable measures and mechanisms for producing estimates of serious emotional disturbance in children, which are necessary to enable the distribution of block grants that support state-level mental health services for children. The report discusses existing measures and data on mental disorders and functional impairment, challenges associated with collecting these data in large-scale population-based studies, as well as study design and estimation options.

Contains evaluations and analyses of programs and management at federal departments and agencies.

The only comprehensive work on SED, with practical information on diagnosing and treating children with SED. Features contributions by leading experts of SED research and practice. Includes a foreword by Kay Jamison, a nationally recognized author on mental illness.

The Workshop on Integrating New Measures of Trauma into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Data Collection Programs, held in Washington, D.C. in December 2015, was organized as part of an effort to assist SAMHSA and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in their responsibilities to expand the collection of behavioral health data to include measures of trauma. The main goals of the workshop were to discuss options for collecting data and producing estimates on exposure to traumatic events and PTSD, including available measures and associated possible data collection mechanisms. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

The first edition of A Guide To Assessments That Work provided a much needed resource on evidence-based psychological assessment. Since the publication of the first edition, a number of advances have been made in the assessment field and a revised diagnostic system for mental disorders has been introduced. These changes are reflected in the second edition and new chapters have been included to cover the use of evidence-based assessment instruments and procedures in clinical practice and the use of evidence-based principles to integrate and interpret assessment data. This volume addresses the assessment of the most commonly encountered disorders or conditions among children, adolescents, adults, older adults, and couples. Strategies and instruments for assessing mood disorders, anxiety and related disorders, couple distress and sexual problems, health-related problems, and many other conditions are reviewed by leading experts. With a focus throughout on assessment instruments that are feasible, psychometrically sound, and useful for typical clinical requirements, this edition features the use of a rating system designed to provide evaluations of a measure's norms, reliability, validity, and clinical utility. Standardized tables summarize this information in each chapter, providing essential information on the most scientifically sound tools available for a range of assessment needs. With its focus on clinically relevant instruments and assessment tasks, this volume provides readers with the essential information for conducting the best evidence-based mental health assessments currently possible.

Children’s display of unacceptable behavior in the school setting, school violence, academic underachievement, and school failure represent a cluster of problems that touches all aspects of society. Children with learning and behavior problems are much more likely to be un- ployed, exhibit significant emotional and behavior disorders in adulthood, as well as become incarcerated. For example, by adolescence, children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity D- order are more likely to be retained a grade, drop out of school, have contact with the law, or fair worse along a number of dimensions than their unaffected siblings (Barkely, 1998). Identification, assessment, and treatment of children with externalizing behavior problems and learningdisabilities is critical to optimizing development and prevention of relatively - tractable behavioral and emotional problems in adulthood. For example, poor interpersonal problem solving and social skills excesses and deficits are strongly associated with poor o- come in adolescence and adulthood. The school is where children learn essential academic, social, and impulse control skills that allow them to function effectively in later years. School is where problems in these areas can be most easily identified and addressed. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of assessment practices for evaluating children’s externalizing behavior problems exhibited in the school environment. Reviews of approximately 100 assessment devices for measuring children’s externalizing problems are included. Instruments include structured interviews, rating scales, and observational methods.