Week 7 discussion response to classmates

Please no plagiarism and make sure you are able to access all resources on your own before you bid. Main references come from Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015) and/or Encyclopedia of Counseling (2017). You need to have scholarly support for any claim of fact or recommendation regarding treatment. I have also attached my and example by the professor on how to respond to get full points. Please respond to all 3 of my classmates separately. You need to have scholarly support for any claim of fact or recommendation like peer-reviewed, professional scholarly journals. I need this completed by 01/10/20 at 3pm.

Expectation:

Responses to peers. Respond to at least three of your colleagues’ posts indicating that if you had the ability to select a different and more appropriate assessment, what assessment from the MMY might you use instead and how is it better in terms of reliability, validity, norm group?

THREE PEER RESPONSE POSTS should contain at least 150 words. No references are required for Peer Response posts. Please note that responding to your peers is required by the classroom, which means a substantive post (150 words min.) and one that contains detail and thoroughness. Also, please note that just merely answering the Main Discussion post with 2 references is not an automatic 100.

1. Classmate (J. Boo)

Mikayla is an 8-year-old second-grader that is having behavioral issues in class. Both of Mikayla’s parents are in the home and she has a younger brother. Mikayla was sent to the school counselors office after an incident with her breaking the classroom fish tank during a silent reading activity. The teacher stated Mikayla her behavior has caused her test scores to lower and grades are poor. Mikayla is having a hard time following directions, staying on task, and remain seated. Mikayla does well in small groups and when she gets one -on-one attention. She is very active and is distracted easily (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2015).

Assessments

The first assessment chosen for Mikayla is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test 2nd Edition (ADHDT-2). The ADHDT-2 is a 33-item scale that takes 3-5 minutes to complete and is administered individually to the classroom teacher, parent, or other caregiver who can speak to the individual’s behavior over the previous 2 weeks. Each of the items are rated on a scale of 0-3; 0 means never observed the behavior, 2 means observed often, and 3 means very often observed (Gilliam, 2015). It is designed to identify individuals who present severe behavioral problems that may by indicative of ADHD for ages 5 through 17. The ratings would be completed with the teacher, parent, or other caregiver that has regular contact with the student for at least two weeks. The ADHDT-2 has two subscales which are inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity and are aligned with the criteria in the DSM-5 (Gilliam, 2015). One of the pros of this assessment was the normative sample represented the make-up of the United States so it can be used with many diverse groups. A con for the assessment is the validity evidence of the ADHDT-2 is adequate and there has been some difficulty in distinguishing between an individual with ADHD and autism (Gilliam, 2015).

           The second assessment is the Behavioral Summary. The purpose of this assessment is to screen for behavioral adjustment problems for grades K-12. There is a Parent Report, Student Report, and Teacher Report which are in statement format. The parent and student items are similar, and the responses are either true or false. The teacher report responses are rated with 1 thru 4. The con of utilizing this assessment is it should not be used by itself and be a part of other assessments and instruments (Lacher, Gruber, Wingenfield, & Kline, 2009).

Conclusion

           The ADHDT-2 would be the assessment utilized to work with Mikayla. This assessment can be utilized to by itself and not having to pair with other instruments to help with diagnosis. The test reliability, validity, and diverse sample size shows the worthiness of the assessment. This assessment will be able to identify Mikayla’s behavioral problems.

Resources

Gilliam, J. (2015). Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test-Second Editon.

Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print, vol. 20

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). The essentials of testing and assessment: A practical

guide to counselors, social workers, and psychologists (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Lachar, D. Gruber, C., Wingenfeld, S., & Kline, R. (2009). Behavioral Summary. Mental

Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print, vol. 19

2. Classmate (A. Gon)

The client I chose is eight-year-old Mikayla. Mikayla lives with her brother and her parents. Mikayla has been having trouble in school remaining in her seat, staying on the assigned task, and following directions. Some other concerns Mikayla’s teacher have are shouting in class, being easily distracted, and constantly in motion. When Mikayla works in small groups and one and one, she does well. However, Mikayla’s behavior caused her to get low grades and low test scores, which also contributed to her repeating the second grade. Mikayla is also popular among her peers.

The first assessment I chose for Mikayla is the Pediatric Attention Disorders Diagnostic Screener (PADDS). PADDS can be used in assisting the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in individuals six through twelve (Pedigo, Pedigo, Scott, Swanson, Nolan & Pelham, 2008). PADDS typically takes between twenty-five and thirty minutes to complete (Pedigo et al., 2008). Test results are available in less than an hour. A pro of using the PADDS assessment has been a useful tool in diagnosing ADHD (Pedigo et al., 2008). However, because of the newness of the assessment, more research is needed regarding establishing the validity of the assessment (Pedigo et al., 2008).

The Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale – Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA) are used for children between the ages of sic and seventeen (Barkley, 2012). The assessment can be found in either short or long-form; the long-form has 70 items; the short form has 20 items (Barkley, 2012). In addition to the assessment, there is also a twenty item interview form. The BDEFS-CA is given in a clinical setting; however, it has been known to be a useful tool in diagnosing deficits in children.

References

Barkley, R. A. (2012). Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale–Children and Adolescents. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mmt&AN=test.3367&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Pedigo, T. K., Pedigo, K. L., Scott, V. B., Jr., Swanson, J. M., Nolan, W., & Pelham, W. E. (2008). Pediatric Attention Disorders Diagnostic Screener. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mmt&AN=test.3160&site=ehost-live&scope=site

3. Classmate (A. Mal)

For this discussion post, I chose to focus on Alan.  Alan is a 37-year-old man who is divorced and has a career in banking.  In the past five years, he has been irritable, sleeping excessively, and has gained weight.  He also has lost interest in things he uses to enjoy and talks about mild depression.  Alan smokes marijuana and drinks alcohol daily.  He has been arrested for possession of marijuana and driving under the influence, for which he was placed on probation. He wants to discontinue the use of drugs and alcohol (Neukrug & Fawcett, 2015. p. 55).  Alan has been ordered to counseling as part of his probation.

I picked two assessments for Alan.  The first assessment I chose is the Triage Assessment of Addictive Disorders (TAAD). This assessment is designed to identify current drug and alcohol problems.  TAAD helps to establish substance abuse and dependence diagnostics in a short period and consists of 32 items.  It usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes to administer.  TAAD consists of yes and no questions about events that have occurred over the past twelve months related to alcohol and drugs and is administered through an interview type of test.  The TAAD assessment will give the counselor insight into how Alan relates to drugs and alcohol.

The second assessment I picked for Alan is the Correa-Barrick Depression Scale (CBDS).  The CBDS measures the severity of depression, as well as assesses changes in depression over time to evaluate treatment response.  Also, it evaluates suicidal ideation.  Alan reports mild depression, but it seems that smoking marijuana and drinking could be suppressing his emotions and feelings of everyday life.  The CBDS is not intended to be used as a diagnostic instrument, it focuses on a measure to screen for the severity of depression. 

There are pros and cons to both assessments.  The pros of using The Triage Assessment for Addictive Disorders (TAAD) is that it offers a quick assessment of current substance use disorder criteria.  The test also provides support for substance use disorder diagnoses in minutes.  The cons of the TAAD assessment is that it is not as clear as other assessments on how to move forward with treatment.

The pros of using the Correa-Barrick Depression Scale (CBDS) is that this scale can be used in clinical practice to detect early signs of depression for prompt intervention.   The cons of the CBDS are that it is a visual test involving colors.  If there was a client that was color blind than this test would not work.

Hoffmann, N. G. (2013). Triage Assessment for Addictive Disorders–5. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mmt&AN=test.8072&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). The essentials of testing and assessment: A practical guide to counselors, social workers, and psychologists (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). Exercise 3.3: “Practice making a diagnosis.” In The essentials of Testing and Assessment: A practical guide for counselors, social workers, and psychologists (pp. 55). Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning.

Required Resources

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). Exercise 3.3: “Practice making a diagnosis.” In The essentials of Testing and Assessment: A practical guide for counselors, social workers, and psychologists (pp. 55). Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning.

Carlson, J. F., Geisinger, K. F., & Jonson, J. L. (Eds.). (2017). The twentieth mental measurements yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Burros Center for Testing.

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). Chapter 6: “Statistical Concepts: Making Meaning out of Raw Scores.” In The essentials of Testing and Assessment: A practical guide to counselors, social workers, and psychologists (pp. 110-126). Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning.

Neukrug, E. S., & Fawcett, R. C. (2015). Chapter 7: “Statistical concepts: Creating new scores to interpret test data.” In The essentials of Testing and Assessment: A practical guide to counselors, social workers, and psychologists (pp. 127-149). Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning.