Deliberate Context-Driven Conceptualization in Psychological Assessment.

Clinical formulation and case conceptualization in clinical psychological assessment typically organize a client's presenting problems within a psychological framework and narrative that explains the cluster of symptoms, etiological and maintenance factors, and explaining both how and why a client is struggling or suffering. However, many of the most commonly used models of case conceptualization, as well as the preponderance of tests and measures used in psychological assessment, minimize or ignore the impacts of contextual factors, including dominant culture's expectations for normative behavior and the client's history of trauma and adverse and negative events. This paper presents a rationale and model for encouraging psychologists conducting clinical psychological assessment to be deliberate in first considering contextual factors in case conceptualization before relying entirely on primarily intrapsychic models. While contextual conceptualizations will not always replace (or join) intrapsychic models of case formulation, being deliberate and explicit about at least considering them is an important way to mitigate some of psychologists' biases and has the potential to situate a narrative of client difficulties in a way that takes at least some of the burden off the client.

Psychological and neuropsychological underpinnings of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder assessment.

The identification and diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is extremely important in order to help change the trajectory of an individual's life outcomes. A review of the current state of evidence-based assessment of ADHD is dominated by the DSM-5's conceptualization of behaviorally-oriented diagnostic criteria. This assumption that the DSM-5's method for identifying ADHD is the gold standard underlies the research base that evaluates the incremental validity of measures and methods for diagnosing it. That is, when evaluating whether a measure is useful in the identification of ADHD, the 'right answer' is based on the DSM-5's behaviorally-oriented definition. An alternative model for considering the fact that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, with its roots in executive dysfunction, is proposed. Using neuropsychological and cognitive tests to identify executive functioning problems can be combined with rating scales and interviews to diagnose ADHD in a way that does not ascribe entirely to a behavioral definition of the disorder.

Education and training guidelines for psychological assessment in health service psychology.

While recent survey findings suggest graduate programs in health service psychology (HSP) are allocating the same or increased time to education and training in psychological assessment over the last two decades, there is a lack of clear guidance for programs to implement practices associated with quality education and training. These Guidelines (found in full at https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-assessment-health-service.pdf) were developed to address this critical need. Developed by a task force of the American Psychological Association Board of Educational Affairs in 2018 and 2019, the Guidelines serve to inform faculty/supervisors, students, and the public as to quality practices associated with graduate education and training in psychological assessment. They are organized around seven domains: theory; psychological assessment process; psychometrics; tests and methods; ethics, legal issues, and professionalism; diversity; and supervision. These domains are drawn from a review of the scholarly literature on psychological assessment, as well as graduate psychology education and training. The domains and their associated Guidelines are interdependent, and, while some overlap exists among them, they should be considered in their entirety. While a summary of each section is provided in the present article, the full explanation of each domain is presented in the actual Guidelines document. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Equivalence of remote, digital administration and traditional, in-person administration of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V).

Many children in need do not receive the psychoeducational evaluation services they need, with an estimated 15% of all students struggling with attentional or learning difficulties that are unassessed, and thus unaddressed, during "normal" times. Such evaluations have largely halted during the COVID-19 crisis, with questionable psychometrics of usable measures and clinicians largely unprepared to administer them. Remote, online psychoeducational evaluations have the potential to decrease this access problem by allowing for evaluations to continue during the crisis, as well as redistributing (geographically and potentially socioeconomically) evaluators to populations disproportionately without access. The present study evaluated the equivalence of a remote, online administration procedure for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) with traditional, in-person administration. Results revealed no significant differences-and, therefore, method effects-between the full-scale IQ and index scores between the administration procedures. One subtest did reveal a significant method effect, with children performing more poorly on the remote, online version of the test. Although imperfect, the remote, online procedure is a viable alternative for the traditional, in-person administration of the WISC-V, especially during this time of crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Clinical Applications of European Adolescent Assessment Research.

This article discusses clinical applications of three empirical articles published in the present issue of JPA, all focused on adolescent assessment in European countries. Both adolescent and non-American populations receive too little attention in the assessment literature, and these articles aim to address this problem, through research on trait reactance in Portuguese adolescents, reasons for self-harm in Portuguese adolescents, and application of the Roberts-2 with Italian adolescents. How these articles apply to actual clinical practice is discussed.

Discrete Effects of Religiosity and Spirituality on Gay Identity and Self-Esteem.

Previous research has indicated that although spirituality may bolster development of a positive gay identity, religiosity may prove detrimental. Because the majority of this research confounds these constructs, there is little evidence as to the discrete roles religiosity and spirituality may play in LGB identity development. The present study endeavored to tease apart the unique effects of religion and spirituality on positive and negative gay identity and self-esteem. A sample of 376 self-identified sexual minority adults were given measures of religiosity, spirituality, LGB identity, and self-esteem. Models were built to evaluate the effects of religiosity (independent of spirituality) and spirituality (independent of religiosity), understanding that the constructs are greatly overlapped, on identity and self-esteem. Results included a positive association between spirituality and identity affirmation, identity superiority, and self-esteem. Religiosity was negatively associated with identity affirmation and self-esteem and positively associated with internalized homonegativity and heteronormativity. Limitations and implications are discussed.

The role of openness to experience and sexual identity formation in LGB individuals: implications for mental health.

Openness to experience has been shown to have a positive impact on mental health in the general population, but there is a dearth of information both about why this is the case and on LGB populations in this area. The present article explores the relationship between openness to experience, LGB identity development, and mental health. The results revealed a full mediation model, where the positive impact of openness to experience on mental health is fully mediated by positive LGB identity development. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Client disclosure and therapist response in psychotherapy with women with a history of childhood sexual abuse.

This study investigated the perceptions of adult clients (N=98; M age=32) with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) of the costs and benefits of disclosure of this material. Significant benefits of disclosing included a sense of relief from sharing bottled-up emotions, and feeling more accepted and understood by one's therapist; significant negative consequences included feeling emotionally overwhelmed, and feeling uncomfortably vulnerable and exposed. Linear regressions indicated that CSA patients who generally disclose more have a greater tendency to experience both positive and negative effects of disclosure about abuse. In addition, a hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher levels of symptomatology were predictive of higher levels of anxiety related to disclosure in therapy, suggesting that clinicians need to be cautious in encouraging disclosure about CSA with patients with severe pathology.

Unemployed and poor in New York: the impact of mentalization and Axis II psychopathology on job outcome.

This study examined the relationships between the capacity for reflective functioning (RF) and the presence of Axis II psychopathology and their respective and combined impact on the ability of unemployed, low-income individuals to complete work-readiness training and to obtain and retain employment. Forty-one adult clients selected randomly from individuals participating in The HOPE Program, a work-readiness program in Brooklyn, New York, participated in the current study. Results indicated that RF and Axis II pathology were not only found to be related to each other, but were also found to significantly predict job outcomes. Moreover, it was determined that while the presence of an Axis II diagnosis impeded participants' ability to obtain jobs, the impact of such a diagnosis on job acquisition was attributable to having lower levels of RF ability. These results are discussed in relation to implications for the design of programs and interventions to assist unemployed and underserved populations.

It's not what you say, it's how many different ways you can say it: links between divergent peer resistance skills and delinquency a year later.

PURPOSE: To examine whether generation of 'socially appropriate' responses or divergent responses to continued peer pressure is a more effective deterrent of actual delinquency. METHODS: The sample of 129 urban adolescents included both boys and girls (51.9% male) and was predominantly black (48.%) and Hispanic (28.7%). They were studied longitudinally from seventh to eighth grade in New York City from 2000-2001. Resistance strategies to offers to smoke and to shoplift were assessed in two separate videotaped role-plays. Socially appropriate responses were defined as assertive and nonaggressive, including the use of a simple no; direct, declarative statements; and offering prosocial alternatives. Divergent responses were defined as multiple unique response types within the same situation regardless of appropriateness. Data were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regressions. RESULTS: High use of divergent responses was consistently associated favorably with changes in delinquency from seventh to eighth grade. High use of divergent responses was associated with lowered likelihood to vandalize, steal or shoplift, and commit multiple acts of any type of delinquency, even after controlling for seventh grade delinquency. Socially appropriate responses showed little association to any delinquent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Different social pressure situations and contexts may require different responses. As trying to teach effective responses for every single potential peer pressure situation would be impossible, promoting divergent thinking may be an attractive alternative.