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Biomedical subjects

G Marsden

Publications and source records attributed to G Marsden.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1977

Children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers: a replication.

Despite increasing recognition of the early importance of peer relations, virtually no systematic information exists on the way in which normal children view their emotionally disturbed peers. This paper reports a replication of recent findings on children's use of the concept of emotional disturbance. Ss were 40 fourth and sixth graders. Five vignettes that described one normal and four emotionally disturbed boys were read to individual Ss; who were interviewed about their understanding of the central figures (CFs). Interviews were coded to a 5-point scale of degree of perceived emotional disturbance. Earlier findings were replicated to a remarkable degree. Ss differentiated among the CFs in a manner congruent with clinician judges' ratings. Grade differences indicate the differential attention to and valuing of specific behaviors, rather than global differences in perception of emotional disturbance.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed1977

Children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers. II. Etiological factors.

In a previous study, we (Marsden and Kalter, 1976) found that fourth- and sixth-grade children not only made distinctions between normal and emotionally disturbed behavior, but also were able to discriminate degrees of childhood psychopathology in a manner strikingly congruent with clinician-judges. Having assessed children's perceptions of emotional disturbance, we turned our attention to how the children might account for the development of such childhood disorders. We are aware of no previous study which has examined children's views of the etiology of emotionally disturbed behavior of their peers. Such information could shed further light on children's understanding of childhood psychopathology and might implicitly indicate what children believe are the necessary ingredients for healthy emotional development. This knowledge would be useful to mental health professionals, teachers, and parents seeking both to understand the emotionally disturbed child's place in his peer group and to convey an understanding of emotional illness to normal children.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers. I. The concept of emotional disturbance.

Study of the interpersonal relations of emotionally disturbed children has focused largely on relationships within the family. Theories of childhood psychopathology focus almost exclusively on the parent-child triad as the etiological core of childhood emotional disturbance (Frank, 1965). Far less attention has been paid to the role of extra-familial attitudes and relationships in childhood psychopathology. In a general way, the increasing importance of the peer group during childhood has been recognized, but researchers have hardly begun to consider whether and how the manifold aspects of relationships between the emotionally disturbed and their normal peers might bear on the course of the disturbance or its refractoriness to treatment (e.g., Solomon and Wahler, 1973). Nor have they considered peer group influences on the development of the emotionally disturbed child's perception of the world and his place within it. Despite increasing recognition of the early importance of peer relations, virtually no systematic information exists on the ways in which normal children view their emotionally disturbed peers. Our purpose in this paper is to report the first of several analyses of data from an initial investigation of children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers. Specifically, we wish to examine whether there is evidence that normal children do, in fact, perceive as emotionally disturbed the symptomatic and distressing behavior of peers that mental health professionals would recognize as indicative of psychopathology. Further, we wish to study these issues with respect to grade and sex differences.

Affective Symptoms↗