thesis
Interviewing Children: Development of the Dutch version of the Semistructured Clinical Interview for Children and Adolescents (SCICA) and testing of the psychometric properties
- Publication date
- 21 May 1997
- Publisher
- Psychopathology in children and adolescents can be an enormous source
of concem because of interference with the developmental process in the
growing child. Understanding of the nature and causes of child and
adolescent psychiatric disorder, accompanied by increases in therapeutic
efficacy, can help to enlarge the power of effective prevention and
intervention (Rutter, 1988). In endeavors to expand knowledge of the nature
and causes of emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents
the diagnostic process plays an important role.
The diagnostic process comprises two essential elements, assessment and
taxonomy. In the assessment process, distinguishing features in behaviors and
emotions of individuals are identified. Various instmments and procedures
can be used in this process to identify the distinguishing features of each
individual case. The grouping of these cases according to their distinguishing
features (similarities and differences) is accounted for by the concept of
taxonomy. In the taxonomic process constmcts are generated by grouping
distinguishing features on hierarchical levels of defining characteristics such
as individual problems (symptoms), symptom aggregates (syndromes) or
etiological factors.