Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

The Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC) is a relatively new self-report measure designed to assess the broad domain of internalizing problems of children and to integrate the two- and three-factor models of affect proposed by Watson, Clark, and colleagues (cf. Watson & Clark, 1992). To date, limited research has been conducted investigating the performance of the negative affect/general distress and positive affect dimensions of the ISSC. The present research investigated convergent and discriminant validity coefficients between domain-specific self-report (RCDS, RCMAS, SSRS) and peer-report (PNID) measures with both the ISSC total and subscale scores. Validity coefficients support the continued use of the ISSC total score as a measure of distress that compares favorably with other commonly used measures. Correlations between ISSC subscales and other self-report measures indicate that the relationships between positive affect and negative affect and anxiety and depression proposed in the adult literature may also apply to children. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.

This study examined whether ability scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) showed criterion-related bias. Participants (N= 832) comprised a referral cohort between ages 8 and 16 years that differed by race (Anglo, African American) and gender. Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs from the WISC-III were used to predict Reading, Mathematics, Language, and Writing Composites from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT). Unlike previous research with the WISCIII, 50% of the analyses (12 out of 24) showed statistically significant effects. However, in all instances where bias was found, differences in regressions were statistically significant for intercepts, but not for slopes, and served to overpredict the performance of minority groups (African Americans, females) relative to majority groups (Anglos, males). Results are discussed in the context of how instances of differences in intercepts could mislead psychologists in interpreting children's ability scores.

The Differential Ability Scales (DAS) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised (WJ-R COG standard battery) were administered to 81 children referred for special education services evaluation. Both the General Conceptual Ability (GCA) and the Nonverbal Reasoning scores of the DAS were significantly lower than the WJ-R COG Broad Cognitive Ability-Standard score (BCA-STD). The DAS Verbal and Spatial Composite scores were not significantly different from the BCA-STD. Low to moderate correlations were found between related constructs on the two tests.

Parent and teacher ratings of adaptive behavior were compared using a new instrument designed to measure adaptive functioning for limited-English-proficient children: the Universal Brief Adaptive Behavior Index (UBABI). The UBABI was designed to briefly assess constructs of adaptive behavior for all children, and particularly for at-risk children who have limited use of the English language. The instrument measures adaptive functioning in 10 areas in accordance with the 1992 AAMR definition of adaptive behavior. Participants were 135 teachers and 115 parents of students in elementary, middle, and high schools from six states. Students were selected randomly from regular education classrooms. UBABIs were first completed by the parents and, upon return of the completed parent form, then completed by the classroom teacher. Cronbach alpha correlation coefficients provided evidence of the UBABI's reliability and ranged from .86 to .90 for the 10 domains. The reliability for the composite score was .98. UBABI scores differentiated between teacher ratings of regular education and identified mentally retarded students based on domain and composite scores. Coefficients between parent and teacher ratings ranged from .18 to .50 for the 10 domains. All but five of these correlations were significant at the p < .01 level. The mean differences between the parent and teacher samples for each domain were not statistically significant(p > .05). Implications are discussed.