James R. Koller

Post-High School Outcomes of High IQ Adults with Learning Disabilities

This study examined the long-term, post-high school outcomes of 80 adult vocational rehabilitation clients who had been independently identified as having both high intellectual ability and learning disabilities severe enough to meet stringent federal and state vocational rehabilitation eligibility requirements. Comprehensive follow-up survey responses were examined to explore client educational history, postsecondary educational and training levels, vocational and career counseling, work experiences, and psychosocial issues affecting life satisfaction. Results suggest that these adults were generally functioning at levels consistent with their learning-disability deficits rather than at levels commensurate with their identified intellectual strengths. Recommendations are offered for advocates who work with this population; for further research; and for those individuals who, themselves, have similar characteristics.

Incidence and Practical Issues of Mental Health for School-Aged Youth in Juvenile Justice Detention

This study documents rates of youth referred for adjudication to a state juvenile justice system who have coexisting—and often unidentified—mental illnesses. The project examined records for 1,411 youth who were admitted over a 1-year period. All were screened with an instrument that allowed multidimensional appraisal along relevant mental health concerns. Approximately 70% of the youth exhibited a caution or warning in one or more (out of six) categories of mental health concern. These incidents were cross-referenced with categories of offense as well as incidents of using psychotropic medication. Sex, age, and ethnic heritage were also tracked. Results for each category show wide differences. Statistically, variances among the variables were analyzed by traditional general linear model techniques (e.g., ANOVA, regression) and differences in underlying constructs were confirmed by structural equation modeling. Schoolteachers, counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists, and policymakers can employ this information when working with youth in the juvenile justice system or those who are at risk.

The Application of a Strengths-Based Mental Health Approach in Schools.

James R. Koller is Professor, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Director, Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in the Schools, University of Missouri-Columbia. Sara K. Svoboda is a doctoral student in School Psychology, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, and a Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in the Schools. The Application of a Strengths-Based Mental Health Approach in Schools

Investigations into the relationship of the PPVT-R and the WISC-R with incarcerated delinquents.

Examined the relationship between the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised ( PPVT -R), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ( PPVT ), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) with 35 incarcerated delinquents between the ages of 13-10 and 16-10. Mean scaled scores were computed across all measures. A statistically significant difference (p less than .01) between the PPVT -R mean scaled score and all other measures was obtained. The PPVT -R correlated significantly (p less than .0001) with the WISC-R VIQ (r = .87), PIQ (r = .78), FSIQ (r = .86) and the PPVT (r = .80), whereas the original PPVT demonstrated significant yet lower correlations with the WISC-R VIQ (r = .78), PIQ (r = .77) and FSIQ (r = .80). The clinical significance of utilizing the PPVT -R as a measure of receptive vocabulary and its practical relationship to the PPVT and WISC-R with a juvenile delinquent population was discussed.

Adolescent and Adult Learning Disability Subgroups Based On Wais-R pErformance

The WAIS-R was administered to a group of learning disabled (LD) adolescents and adults, and the results were factor analyzed. Factor scores were derived for each subject and used in a cluster analysis. The analysis indicated a seven-group solution. Results are discussed in terms of the sen sitivity of the WAIS-R to LD subgroup patterns.

Personality Profiles of Adults with Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities

This study examined the MMPI-derived personality profiles of three learning-disabled sub-types. Results obtained through profile analysis indicated that there were no significant differences between the three groups on the validity and 10 basic scales of the MMPI. However, the combined learning-disabled groups differed significantly from the normative sample on the MMPI, scoring higher on 11 of the 13 scales studied. Statistical analyses revealed that 20% of the LD sample displayed significantly marked elevations on one or more of the MMPI scales.

Enhancing Student Resilience through Innovative Partnerships

The urgent need for reforms in the provision of child and adolescent mental health services was recently highlighted in the president’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Report, released in 2003. This report delineates the fragmented, frequently stigmatized, and under-resourced nature of mental health service provision in the United States; in addition, it lays the foundation for innovative models of prevention and intervention to promote healthy outcomes for youth. Like the Surgeon General’s document that preceded this commission’s report, the roles of school-based personnel as major sources of support for students were emphasized; further, the need to create innovative models and to improve the translation of science into practice was clearly articulated. The report illuminates the impact of mental health on children’s academic, health, and life success: “While schools are primarily concerned with education, mental health is essential to learning as well as to social and emotional development. Because of this important interplay between emotional health and school success, schools must be partners in the mental health care of our children” (President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003, p. 58).

Exploration of the Underlying Dimensions and Overlap between the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised

The canonical relationship between the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) was studied. Two significant canonical variates accounted for approximately 53% of the overlap in variance between the two measures. The WMS-R was found to offer unique and valuable information beyond the KAIT when assessing individuals classified as learning disabled (LD). Principal components analysis, using the KAIT Composite IQs and the WMS-R Index scores, yielded a two-factor solution. The addition of a specific measure of memory during the psychoeducational evaluation of adolescents and adults classified as LD was supported. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.