Perceptions of psychopathology among psychiatric inpatient children
Titel:
Perceptions of psychopathology among psychiatric inpatient children
Auteur:
Kazdin, Alan E. Griest, Douglas L. Esveldt-Dawson, Karen
Verschenen in:
Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology
Paginering:
Jaargang 13 (1984) nr. 2 pagina's 147-156
Jaar:
1984
Inhoud:
The present investigation evaluated children's perceptions of psychopathology. The children who served as subjects were between the ages of 7 and 12 years and were hospitalized on an inpatient psychiatric service. Each child evaluated three case descriptions including a normal child and children with a diagnosis of conduct disorder or anxiety disorder. The case descriptions, presented in a 3 x 3 replicated Latin-Square design, were rated to identify causal factors, helping agents, and interventions that might help the child. The results indicated that children evaluated conduct disorder and anxiety disorder cases as less likeable, more dysfunctional, having a poorer prognosis, and less similar to them than the normal case.- The conduct disorder case was rated as more severely impaired and less similar to the subjects than the anxiety disorder case. Parents and family figured prominently in the children's views of the causes of psychopathology and its amelioration. Parent yelling and arguing and harsh discipline were seen as major reasons why disturbed children behave the way they do. The influences most frequently endorsed as helping deviant children were spending more time with the family, talking about feelings, and engaging in better ways of thinking. The implications of the findings for providing treatment for disturbed children were discussed.