Comparing the Effectiveness of EMDR and TF-CBT for Children and Adolescents: a Meta-Analysis.

Efficacy of EMDR and TF-CBT for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) was explored through meta-analysis. A comprehensive search yielded 494 studies of children and adolescents with PTSS who received treatment with these evidence-based therapeutic modalities. Thirty total studies were included in the meta-analysis. The overall Cohen's d was small (-0.359) and statistically significant (p < 0.05), indicating EMDR and TF-CBT are effective in treating PTSS. Major findings posit TF-CBT is marginally more effective than EMDR; those with sub-clinical PTSS responded more favorably in treatment than those with PTSD; and greater reductions in PTSS were observed with presence of comorbidity in diagnosis. Assessment of publication bias with Classic fail-safe N revealed it would take 457 nonsignificant studies to nullify these findings.

An Investigation of Interrater Reliability for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) in a Nonpatient U.S. Sample.

The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) aims to provide an evidence-based approach to administration, coding, and interpretation of the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM). R-PAS analyzes individualized communications given by respondents to each card to code a wide pool of possible variables. Due to the large number of possible codes that can be assigned to these responses, it is important to consider the concordance rates among different assessors. This study investigated interrater reliability for R-PAS protocols. Data were analyzed from a nonpatient convenience sample of 50 participants who were recruited through networking, local marketing, and advertising efforts from January 2013 through October 2014. Blind recoding was used and discrepancies between the initial and blind coders' ratings were analyzed for each variable with SPSS yielding percent agreement and intraclass correlation values. Data for Location, Space, Contents, Synthesis, Vague, Pairs, Form Quality, Populars, Determinants, and Cognitive and Thematic codes are presented. Rates of agreement for 1,168 responses were higher for more simplistic coding (e.g., Location), whereas agreement was lower for more complex codes (e.g., Cognitive and Thematic codes). Overall, concordance rates achieved good to excellent agreement. Results suggest R-PAS is an effective method with high interrater reliability supporting its empirical basis.

Reliability generalization of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG).

While grief is a universal experience, this phenomenon is experienced in a variety of ways largely dependent upon one's cultural schema. To consider the potential problems inherent in generalizing the results of an assessment tool across cultures, this study explores the notion of generalizability in assessment by evaluating the reliability of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG) using a meta-analytic technique called reliability generalization. The TRIG demonstrated strong reliability with mean Cronbach's alphas of .90 and .82 for the present and past subscales, respectively. Overall, the TRIG, especially the present subscale, appears to produce reliable scores even across cultures.

Performance of Children and Adolescents With Brain Injury on the Lebby-Asbell Neurocognitive Screening Examination for Children and Adolescents.

Traumatic brain injuries are one of the leading causes of deaths and disabilities in children and adolescents. There is a need for clinicians to quickly screen for disrupted cognitive functioning to appropriately refer to specialists. The Lebby-Asbell Neurocognitive Screening Examination for Children and Lebby-Asbell Neurocognitive Screening Examination for Adolescents were developed to fill a gap in available measures and create a screening tool to quickly identify impaired neurocognitive functioning. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to determine their clinical utility. A multivariate analysis of variance found a statistically significant difference between those with brain injury (n = 59) from noninjured (n = 190) on the combined dependent variables, F(14, 234) = 46.530, P < .001; Wilks Lambda = .264; partial η(2) = .763. The Lebby-Asbell Neurocognitive Screening Examinations for Children and Adolescents are effective neurocognitive screening measures for children and adolescents in identifying brain injury.