Attention and executive function (EF) dysregulation are common in a number of disorders including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Better understanding of the relationship between indirect and direct measures of attention and EF and common neurodevelopmental diagnoses may contribute to more efficient and effective…

In this pilot study, 14 adolescents kept diaries for 6 consecutive weeks during their pregnancies. Diary entries were analyzed for affective tone, emotional lability, and contextuality. Findings question psychometric properties of data gathered using one time, self-report measures with pregnant adolescents because of their fluctuating mood states.…

Addresses methodological and ethical issues in context of three related school-based studies of primary and targeted prevention of depressive symptoms and disorder in high school adolescents. Issues discussed include obtaining subject consent and protection of confidentiality, minimizing attrition, unit of assignment issue, and ensuring therapist…

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

Examined whether variations in construction and scoring (frequency, sum, average scores) of life events scale (stress measure) for adolescents yielded different outcomes. Findings from 1,740 high school students indicated that frequency of life events and their average intensity were distinct measures and of equal importance when assessing stress…

Outlines a scenario in which an evaluator wants to ask questions of teenagers that may pose ethical problems, or may be perceived as posing such problems. The hypothetical situation is the evaluation of a life skills program aimed at reducing the teen birth rate. (SLD)

This article describes practices effective in assessing communication and language in persons with autism. It reviews basic principles that govern assessment in the discipline of speech-language pathology, discusses features associated with autism that affect communication and language assessment, and provides strategies to address these features.…

Taking the position that science is not value-free has certain consequences. There are both risks and rewards inherent when evaluators relinquish an objective, non-involved role for a more subjective, partisan role in an evaluation where issues of class, gender, and race are intertwined. It is important for evaluators to consider how their…

Suggests a strategy for dealing with the situation in which evaluators wish to ask teenage participants in a life skills program questions that might be seen as controversial. The strategy relies on an inclusive planning committee, a low-key poll to provide background information, and a foot in the door opening to start the process. (SLD)

Discusses strategies for conducting research on detection and treatment of suicidal ideation and behavior in primary health care settings. Examines problems and results from ongoing study of adolescent health care to focus discussion. Illustrates how, depending on questions asked and individual's gender, number of youths considered at risk for…

Notes that, although any assessment of young people's quality of life is fraught with problems, the quality of life of children in local authority care or accommodation is an ethical issue. Offers suggestions, based on child-care research, for criteria appropriate for 1 type of case, 14-year old who has long been absent from home. Discusses some…

Examines assumptions and premises of standardized tests of mental ability and reviews extant theories and research on intellectual functioning of children from culturally different backgrounds. Discusses implications of these issues and perspectives for new directions for intellectual assessment for children from culturally different backgrounds.…

This paper examines practical and theoretical problems and issues that arose during evaluation of an adventure program for young offenders. During 1989-93, the Sail Training Association and the Humberside (England) Probation Service collaborated on a project in which probation clients aged 17-25 made sailing voyages across the North Sea or around…

Many reports of successful school-based intervention programs suffer from an overestimation of the real effects, errors which many times arise from statistical technicalities. An illustration of such overestimations, as seen through a reanalysis of data on a successful program, is reported in this paper. The data were reevaluated using a variety…

Explores grade retention rates among children with undiagnosed learning disabilities (LD). Data collected on 344 students referred for special-education evaluation revealed that, of the 201 who possessed an LD, 71.6% had been retained at least once. Minority and urban LD students were more apt to be retained before being referred for evaluation.…