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PREFACE

A person who is severely impaired never knows his hidden sources of strength until he is treated like a normal human being and encouraged to shape his own life.
      —Helen Keller, American author, lecturer, and blind
           and deaf activist (1880–1968)

The Seventh Edition of Foundations of Behavioral, Social, and Clinical Assessment of Children is designed to be used as a text in such courses as personality assessment, behavioral assessment, and child clinical assessment and as a reference source for students and professionals. The Seventh Edition can also be used together with Assessment of Children: Cognitive Foundations, Sixth Edition and Assessment with the WAIS–IV to provide in-depth coverage of assessment of children and young adults.

A Major Revision

Every chapter in the Seventh Edition has been rewritten to make the text more comprehensive, relevant, readable, up to date, and informative. The Seventh Edition contains new material on theoretical perspectives useful for assessment, trauma and trauma-informed care, bullying and cyberbullying, child maltreatment, disruptive disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, substance-related disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, adaptive behavior, functional behavioral assessment, and executive functions. In addition, the Seventh Edition contains reviews of several standardized measures for assessing behavioral, social, and emotional functioning of children and for assessing parenting and family functioning. Although the Seventh Edition is not accompanied by a Resource Guide, as was found in the Sixth Edition, it now includes checklists and brief interviews useful for evaluating various psychological disorders.

Learning Aids

The Seventh Edition contains several useful learning aids:

• A list of major headings, with page numbers, at the beginning of each chapter reference

• A list of goals and objectives at the beginning of each chapter

• Case studies to help the reader gain insight into various psychological disorders

• A “Thinking Through the Issues” section for each chapter

• An extensive summary at the end of each chapter

• Key terms listed at the end of each chapter, each linked to the page on which it appears

• Study questions provided at the end of each chapter

• Exercises on interviewing

• A name index

• A subject index

• A reference section with 1,582 references, each of which has a DOI System number, when available

Special Features

Among the special features in the Seventh Edition are the following:

• A section with recommendations to help readers become culturally sensitive evaluators and establish a trusting relationship with children and their family

• An exhibit listing organizations that provide mental health services for culturally and linguistically diverse groups

• A comprehensive table listing measures of executive functions

• Figures higlighting misconceptions about children with special needs

• A section on computer-based administration and scoring of popular tests

• Cartoons touching on assessment, psychology, and education (the cartoons provide comic relief and serve as teaching and learning tools)

Philosophical Background of Text

The Seventh Edition is based on the philosophy that psychologists cannot be competent clinical assessors unless they have the relevant information about a child’s presenting problem, assets and limitations, family, classroom, and environment, as well as knowledge of the techniques needed to perform assessments and an understanding of interventions that might help the child and his or her family. In this text, you will find information to help you become a competent clinical assessor.

Clinical assessors must be mindful of the pervasiveness of litigation in American society. Those who seek legal recourse to change a diagnosis or recommendation may question assessment results and the decisions reached based on the assessment results. Therefore, we strongly urge you to assume that everything you do has potential legal consequences. The best strategy is to be prepared. You can do this by (a) using the most appropriate assessment techniques and instruments, (b) maintaining accurate and complete records, and (c) keeping up with the research and clinical literature in your field.

Underlying any assessment should be respect for children and their families and a desire to help children. A thorough assessment will allow assessors to learn things about the child that they could not learn simply from talking to others about the child, observing the child, or reviewing the child’s records. Assessment brings a wealth of information to children, parents, teachers, health care providers, and other professionals and makes a difference in children’s lives.

Note to Instructors

An Instructor’s Manual, written by Elisabeth Endrikat and Jerome M. Sattler, accompanies Foundations of Behavioral, Social, and Clinical Assessment of Children, Seventh Edition. For each chapter, the Instructor’s Manual contains multiple-choice questions useful for objective examinations. A PowerPoint presentation, written by Salvatore Massa and Jerome M. Sattler, highlighting the main points of each chapter is also available. Both the Instructor’s Manual and PowerPoint presentation are available from the publisher to instructors who adopt the text for their classes.

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