Objectives: This article reports on results from a randomized experimental trial of the effects of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) on multiple measures of grief experienced by parentally bereaved children and adolescents over a 6-year period. Method: Participants were 244 youths (ages 8-16, mean age = 11.4 years) from 156 families that had…

Children and adolescents who are overweight are a heterogeneous group. Whether pretreatment characteristics, such as dietary restraint and psychopathology, are related to differential treatment outcomes was not studied before. Using cluster analysis, the authors of this study examined the validity of subtyping along dietary restraint and…

Studies have found that individuals with bulimia nervosa can be classified into dietary and dietary-negative affect subtypes and that the latter exhibit greater eating pathology, psychiatric comorbidity, and functional impairment; a more protracted clinical course; and a worse treatment response. In this report, the authors describe 2 prospective…

As the demand for accountability in service provision settings increases, the need for valid methods for assessing clinical outcomes is of particular importance. Self-report measures of functioning are particularly useful in the assessment of psychological functioning, but a vital factor in their validity and transportability is the reading level…

Examined the relationship between scores on the MMPI and concurrent and prior aggression. Analysis indicated sum of T scores for Scales F, 4, and 9 was valid measure of aggression. Composite had a higher reliability than its component scales and discriminated between delinquent and general populations. (Author/BEF)

Analyzed Asocial Index scores of three male juvenile delinquent groups and one male nondelinquent control group. Results indicated incarcerated offenders and those who became adjudicated offenders within one year, scored higher and were more frequently classified as delinquent. (Author)

Conducted four studies to develop Adolescent Perceived Events Scale (APES), measure of major and daily stressful events during adolescence. Describes test construction, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of APES. Summarizes subsequent research showing APES to be significantly related to behavior problems and psychological…

Examined the ability of the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) to indicate drug abuse in high school students (N=135), adolescent psychiatric patients (N=171), and residents of a drug abuse treatment center (N=100). Results suggested the MAC can help discriminate between groups of adolescents with and without significant drug abuse. (JAC)

Examined the validity of a hand-scorable, mechanical procedure for deriving interpersonal maturity level (I-level) subtypes with a sample of serious delinquents (N=1,131). Results showed that 65 percent of the youths received a single classification, 34 percent a multiple (dual) classification, and one percent were unclassifiable. (BH)

Designated 100 psychiatrically hospitalized and 114 nonhospitalized adolescents as impulsive or nonimpulsive and compared them to determine the validity of signs of impulsivity on the Draw-A-Person and Bender Gestalt tests. Signs of impulsivity and nonimpulsivity on these tests discriminated between impulsive and nonimpulsive adolescents with…

Examined seven-year adolescent panel to determine whether attrition effects varied by type of substance assessed and method of measurement. Found study dropouts were more likely to use substances and reported higher mean use of substances at baseline than stayers; attrition effects varied by substance; and mean use comparisons were more likely to…

Attempted to expand the construct validity of the profile and factor scales for the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) by determining the relationship of these scales to empirically derived dimensions of problem behaviors in children and adolescents (N=691). Results provided substantial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. (LLL)

Teacher ratings on the Behavior Problem Checklist of adolescents who were clinically diagnosed as schizophrenic (psychotic) and those who had an adjustment reaction of adolescence (nonpsychotic) were compared. The schizophrenics tended to be rated as more deviant on both the flag items and Inadequacy-Immaturity dimensions of the checklist. (Author)

Developed the Problem Inventory for Adolescent Girls (PIAG) to measure competence in social situations, and compared the performance of delinquent and nondelinquent girls on the inventory. The PIAG significantly discriminated between the groups, suggesting that delinquency is more closely related to skill deficits in interacting with adult…

A role-playing measure of teenage girls' problem-solving skills--the Problem Inventory for Adolescent Girls (PIAG)--was administered to groups of Caucasian and Black female delinquents and nondelinquents. The PIAG significantly differentiated between adjudicated delinquents and nondelinquents and between subjects reporting high and low levels of…