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Biomedical subjects

T H Ollendick

Publications and source records attributed to T H Ollendick.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Empirical selection of psychosocial treatment targets for children and adolescents with diabetes.

Used an empirical approach to determine psychosocial variables related to optimal metabolic control of diabetes in two samples (total n = 56) of children and their families. Children and adolescents classified as either in optimal or nonoptimal control of diabetes (based on glycosylated hemoglobin results) completed self-report measures on variables of anxiety, coping, family environment and health locus of control, and a structured interview. Parents completed parallel self-report measures and a child behavior checklist. Children in optimal control of diabetes had more structured and controlling family environments, and more frequently believed that "powerful others" were responsible for their health. There was a marginally significant difference in knowledge, with children in poorer metabolic control showing better knowledge about diabetes and its management than children in optimal control. The study illustrates an empirical approach to the selection of psychosocial treatment targets for children with diabetes, and underscores the importance of parental involvement with the diabetes regimen to ensure optimal control of diabetes in both children and adolescents.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Sociometric status and academic, behavioral, and psychological adjustment: a five-year longitudinal study.

Six hundred fourth-graders rated how much they liked to play with each of their classmates and then nominated their three best friends; 296 of the 600 children were assigned sociometric classifications of popular, neglected, average, controversial, or rejected status (the remaining 304 children failed to meet inclusion criteria). Five years later, 267 of the 296 classified children (90.2%) were evaluated on measures of academic performance, social behavior, and psychological adjustment. The number and type of contacts with the juvenile justice system were also determined. In general, children classified as rejected or controversial tended to fare more poorly on indices of long-term adjustment than did children classified as popular, neglected, or average. Results are discussed in terms of the predictive validity of sociometric rating and nomination procedures and their utility in identifying children at risk for later maladjustment.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

Family/media approach to HIV prevention: results with a home-based, parent-teen video program.

We describe the first study with a home-based HIV prevention video program for parents and young teenagers. The objectives of the program are to inform parents and teenagers about the causes and prevention of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, to increase family problem-solving skills, and to increase teen problem-solving and assertiveness skills. The objectives pertain to the goals of increasing skills needed to help teenagers avoid or manage high-risk behaviors and situations. Forty-five families with at least one 12- to 14-year-old were randomly assigned to either experimental (receive video program) or control (no video) conditions in a pretest-posttest design. After 6 months (Follow-Up 1), the experimental and control families were reassessed. The control families next received the video program, and the control families were assessed again (Follow-Up 2). The results indicate increases in parent and teen knowledge and skills only with video viewing. Approaches to improving the video program, particularly with teenagers, are discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Manifest anxiety and fearfulness in children and adolescents.

The relationship between self-reported fear and anxiety was examined in a large sample of normal Australian children and adolescents. Participants completed the Fear Survey Schedule for Children--Revised (Ollendick, 1983) and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978). Following an examination of the internal consistency of these instruments, correlational analyses were conducted on anxiety and fear scores. Fear scores were shown to be sensitive to anxiety, sex, and age groups. Furthermore, discriminant analysis showed that high-anxiety children indicated a greater fear of items related to failure and criticism than did low-anxiety children. Other issues, including the content overlap between the two scales used in the investigation, are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Cognitive-behavior therapy with nighttime fearful children.

In this study, the nighttime problems of two girls diagnosed as having separation anxiety disorder were treated with cognitive-behavioral procedures. Through the use of a multiple baseline design across subjects, the additive effects of self-control training and self-control training plus contingent reinforcement were determined. For both girls, self-report of anxiety and behavioral avoidance of sleeping in their own beds was reduced significantly only when to the self-control training the reinforcement condition was added. Resolution of these nighttime problems also appeared to generalize to other features of separation anxiety disorder. The clinical and theoretical significance of these findings is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Origins of childhood fears: an evaluation of Rachman's theory of fear acquisition.

This study explored Rachman's (1977) theory of fear acquisition in a large sample of Australian and American children and adolescents. Participants completed a questionnaire that addressed different pathways of fear acquisition for 10 highly prevalent fears. The majority of children attributed the onset of their fears to vicarious and instructional factors, although these indirect sources of fear were often combined with direct conditioning experiences. Also examined were effects for gender, age, and nationality. Boys and preadolescents were found to report more direct and vicarious experiences than girls or adolescents. Effects due to nationality were minimal. Methodological limitations attendant to self-reports were acknowledged.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Fears in British children and their relationship to manifest anxiety and depression.

In the present study, we examined the pattern and intensity of fears in 327 British school children and the relation of those fears to anxiety and depression. The fears reported by the British children were found to be nearly identical to those found in Australian and American children (Ollendick, King & Frary, 1989). Further, although a moderate relation was found between fear and anxiety, only a modest relation was found between fear and depression. Anxiety and depression, however, were highly inter-related. Results of the study are explored in terms of the uniqueness of the constructs of fear, anxiety, and depression and their possible contribution to a more global construct, labeled 'negative affectivity' by Watson and Clark (1984).

Anxiety↗
PubMed1991

Sociometric status: its stability and validity among neglected, rejected and popular children.

Although important distinctions among sociometrically rejected, neglected, and popular children have been reported in the literature, concerns have been raised about use of negative peer nominations in identifying these children. A revised procedure developed by Asher and Dodge [Developmental Psychology, 22, 444-449 (1986)] eliminates the need to obtain negative peer nominations. In the present study, the construct validity of this revised procedure was explored and its long-term stability examined over 6, 12 and 18 months. Our findings establish significant differences on several indices among rejected, neglected and popular children. However, the differences between rejected and popular children were more robust than those between neglected and popular children, who failed to differ from one another on most of the measures. Moreover, fairly good long-term stability was found for popular and rejected status, whereas the long-term stability for neglected status was quite poor. These findings were addressed in the context of similar research employing negative nomination methods. Implications for the identification of at-risk children were also discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed1990

The predictive validity of teacher nominations: a five-year followup of at-risk youth.

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive validity of a teacher nomination procedure for identifying at-risk children. Two hundred and twenty-five children were nominated by their teachers as well-adjusted (n = 75), socially withdrawn (n = 76), or socially aggressive (n = 74) during the fourth grade. Five years later, 198 of these children (88%) were located and their adjustment evaluated. Significant differences among the nominated children were found on a variety of measures, including academic grades, sociometric status, and social behavior. In addition, differences in school dropout and delinquent offenses were noted. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of teacher nomination procedures and their utility in identifying at-risk youth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Depression in British and American children and its relation to anxiety and fear.

The relations between the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R) were examined in 327 British and 336 American children. Relations were similar for both samples of children, with depression more closely related to anxiety than to fear. In addition, the utility of the Kovacs (1981) recommended cutoff score (CDI greater than or equal to 19) for identifying extreme groups of depressed children was evaluated. Children who reported high levels of depression also reported high levels of anxiety and social evaluative fears. The findings are discussed in light of Watson and Clark's (1984) notion of negative affectivity.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1989

Role taking and social competence in autism and mental retardation.

Recent data suggest that individuals with autism show deficits in social cognitive abilities when compared with nonautistic persons matched for mental age. These deficits have been proposed as a basis for the social interaction difficulties seen in autistic persons. In the present study, autistic youth were compared with a matched group of nonautistic mentally retarded youth on three role-taking tasks and three measures of social competence. Results indicated that the autistic group was relatively deficient on each of the social competence measures and on one of the role-taking measures. The role-taking measure on which the groups differed also correlated significantly with each of the social competence measures. Results were discussed in terms of the interplay between social cognitive abilities and social interaction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Treatment programs for severe night-time fears: a methodological note.

A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to examine the efficacy of a treatment package consisting of relaxation, reinforcement, and cognitive self-instruction in the reduction of severe night-time fears in six children. Although the disruptive bedtime behaviors of five of the six children were reduced, the multiple baseline analysis revealed that changes were not solely due to treatment. For children with extended baselines, improvement preceded treatment. The implications of these findings for the treatment of fear of the dark and multicomponent treatment programs are discussed.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1989

Fears in children and adolescents: reliability and generalizability across gender, age and nationality.

In this study, the reliability and generalizability of the FSSC-R was explored across gender, age and nationality. 594 normal children and adolescents from the United States and 591 normal youths from Australia participated. Results confirmed that the schedule is internally consistent across these subject parameters, and that the factor structure is fairly robust. Future directions, including use of the schedule with client populations, are addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Fears of children and adolescents: a cross-sectional Australian study using the Revised-Fear Survey Schedule for Children.

The Revised-Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to over 3000 Australian youths, aged 8-16 yrs. Consistent with previous findings, there was a significant age-related decline in fears. Females reported significantly more fears than males. The most common fears were similar to those reported by children and adolescents in the U.S.A. Nuclear war was added to the stimulus items and found to be the most commonly endorsed fear. Thus the self-reports of fear showed a concern for physical danger and harm.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

School refusal: graduated and rapid behavioural treatment strategies.

School refusal is a complex phenomenon that has been subject to definitional and diagnostic confusion. The aetiology of school refusal remains incompletely understood; heterogeneity rather than homogeneity prevails. In the behaviour management of school refusal, the clinician may plan either a gradual or rapid school return. Although a graduated return to school may be necessary in certain cases, secondary complications are minimized by an immediate return to school. Both graduated and rapid treatment require a flexible and integrative approach drawing on classical, operant and vicarious conditioning principles. Little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the behavioural management of school refusal, as well as psychological adjustment to school.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1985

Correlates of adult and child perceptions of social competency.

In this study, the relationship between two commonly used measures of social competency, peer ratings of perceived status and adult ratings of assertiveness, were examined. In Phase I, high and low sociometric status children were videotaped responding to a series of role-play scenes; performance on these scenes was then rated retrospectively by adults for overall assertiveness. In Phase II, a second group of children who were unfamiliar with the videotaped children observed the taped scenes and provided ratings of likability, intelligence, working together, and attractiveness. In general, results revealed that children and adults differed in their ratings of the videotaped children. Further, boys used different cues in their ratings than did girls. More specifically, the sociometric status of girls was related to perceived attractiveness, whereas the sociometric status of boys was more closely related to perceived intelligence. Such findings suggest that children and adults look for and use different cues in their judgments. Given these differences, it is concluded that child and adult ratings should not be used interchangeably in the assessment of, and evaluation of, social competency in children.

Assertiveness↗