SUBJECT

Child Psychodiagnostics

lecture

master

Faculty of Education and Psychology

2

Semester 2

Spring semester

Aim of the course:

The course provides an introduction into the theory and practice of child psycho-diagnostics. Objectives of the course are the following:

• To focus on measures specifically designed to assess the emotional, behavioral, and social functioning of children and adolescents;
• To provide current research findings to encourage evidence-based practice;
• To provide clear guidelines for using various assessment methods;
• To emphasize clinical diagnostic skills, e.g. rapport building, interviewing, integration and interpretation of data, report writing and giving feedback.

Learning outcome, competences

knowledge:

• Basics of theory and practice of child assessment and psycho-diagnostics
• Moderators of the evaluation and their mechanisms
• Ethics of assessment and evaluation
• Clinical interviewing and hypothesis building
• The role of behavioral observation in child psycho-diagnostics. Behavioral observation systems.
• Using rating scales in child psychodiagnostics
• Projective techniques in child psycho-diagnostics
• Integrating and interpreting results
• Report writing
• Providing feedback

attitude:

• Viewing childhood mental disorders in a complex bio-psycho-social model
• Using current findings of evidence-based research and scientific standards in evaluating childhood mental disorders
• Considering ethical standards of clinical evaluation

skills:

• Recognizing symptoms of childhood mental disorders,
• Formulation of diagnostic hypotheses
• Planning an evaluation
• Rapport building
• Using multiple methods for testing
• Integration and interpretation of findings and report writing.

Content of the course

Topics of the course

• Classification and developmental psychopathology. Standards and fairness of child psycho-diagnostics
• Planning the evaluation process and rapport building
• History taking. Assessing the family context
• Structured and semi-structured diagnostic interviews
• Behavioral observations
• Rating scales in child psychodiagnostics
• Projective techniques
• Integrating and interpreting assessment information
• Report writing
• Providing feedback

Learning activities, learning methods

• lectures

Evaluation of outcomes

mode of evaluation: written examination

Compulsory textbook

• Frick, P.J. et al (2010): Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and Behavior. Springer Science and Business Media, LLC.

Recommended reading list

• McLeod, B. D., Jensen-Doss, A., & Ollendick, T. H. (Eds.). (2013).Diagnostic and behavioral assessment in children and adolescents: A clinical guide. Guilford Press.
• Manassis, K. (2014).Case formulation with children and adolescents. Guilford Publications.
• Saklofske, D. H., Schwean, V. L., & Reynolds, C. R. (Eds.). (2013).The Oxford handbook of child psychological assessment. Oxford University Press.
• Wright, A. J. (2010).Conducting psychological assessment: A guide for practitioners. John Wiley & Sons.