Ronald W. Belter

Children's Coping Styles and Report of Depressive Symptoms Following a Natural Disaster

The present study examined the relationship between childrens coping styles (Spirito, Stark, & Williams, 1988) and self-reported levels of depressive symptoms (Kovacs, 1983) following a major stressor. 257 third- to fifth-grade children consented to participate in the study, 5 months following a hurricane. The number of coping strategies employed was positively related to depression scores, whereas coping efficacy was negatively related to depression scores. Social withdrawal, self-blaming, and emotional regulation were associated with more severe depressive symptoms. Lower levels of symptomatology were found among children who sought social support and engaged in cognitive restructuring. The overall symptom level in the sample did not exceed that of normative samples. Results are discussed in terms of competing theories of childhood depression.

Human figure drawings: Validity in assessing intellectual level and academic achievement

In a sample of 216 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients, significant but low correlations were found between Goodenough-Harris (GH) drawing scores and both Full Scale IQs and academic achievement. The percentage of subjects correctly classified in appropriate IQ categories ranged from 35 to 44%; the percentage of misclassified subjects ranged from 56 to 65%. Consideration of visual-motor integration, using the Bender-Gestalt, did not improve the accuracy of G-H scores in predicting IQ scores in this sample. These results indicate that human figure drawings should not be substituted for other well-established intelligence and achievement tests nor used as an additional measure of these constructs when one is evaluating psychiatric patients.

Impact of Natural Disasters on Children and Families

Addressing the impact of natural disasters on children and their families poses a need to identify the manner in which natural disasters differ from other disasters (unnatural or human-made), as well as the manner in which children might be affected differently from adults. This chapter will define these distinctions as the foundation for discussing the research that has been conducted on natural disasters and their impact on children and families.

Brief Rorschach records with children and adolescents.

In order to determine the frequency with which children and adolescents give brief Rorschach (R less than 14) records and to test the hypothesis that brief records represent a resistance to testing, the psychological evaluations of 439 admissions to an inpatient unit were reviewed. Of the records reviewed, 16.6% were found to contain less than 14 responses. When the complete test protocol of those subjects who provided brief records were compared with those of a matched group, it was found that the group with brief records failed to complete the other parts of the evaluation significantly more often than did those subjects who did not give brief records. There was no significant difference between the two groups on IQ scores or on self-report scores of depression, anxiety, and social desirability. Result are interpreted as supporting Exners (1988) hypothesis that brief records represent a form of resistance to being tested.

Assessment of short-term visual memory in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

This study provides normative data on 270 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients using the Bender Recall technique as a measure of short-term visual memory. In addition, the authors present normative data on another immediate recall technique using the Coding section of the WISC-R. These findings are examined in light of age differences and IQ scores. Detailed instructions for administering the Coding Recall technique are presented.