A psychological test refers to a systematic procedure for comparing the behaviour of two or more people. Standardization refers to collecting a sample for the purpose of norm-referencing and it refers to the administration of a measure according to a consistent set of rules. A standardized administration is necessary to produce reliable and valid measurement. A diagnostic schedule (e.g. rating scale) refers to a specialized psychometric method that provides a structured procedure for collecting and categorizing behavioural data that corresponds to diagnostic categories or systems. It is used to diagnose a syndrome. The goal of an instrument determines whether it is a diagnostic schedule (e.g. diagnose or not). Rating scales allow for the rapid and accurate identification of domains of behaviour that may require diagnosis or intervention.There are several definitions used when testing children:Raw scoreThis refers to the sum of the item scores on a certain measure and does not give any information of performance compared to a norm-group. Standard score This refers to a raw score that is converted to a distribution that reflects the degree to which the individual has scored below or above the sample mean.T-scoreThis is a type of standard score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10.Linear T-scoresThis is a type of score which maintains the skewed shape of the raw score distribution, meaning that the relationship of percentile ranks to T-scores is unique for each scale. Uniform T-score (UT)This is a type of standard score which maintains the skewness of the original raw score distribution to ensure that the relationship between percentile ranks and T-scores is constant across scales.Scaled scoreThis is a type of standard score with a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3.Percentile rankThis refers to a person’s individual relative position within a norm group but has unequal units along their scale (e.g. the...

Informed consent should be provided before any clinical service to a child or adolescent. The informed consent must be obtained from at least one of the parents if the child is below the age of consent. Without exception, it should be the first thing that is done in clinical assessment. There are several basic elements of informed consent:A description of the facility and the qualifications of the person(s) providing the evaluation.A description of the purpose of the evaluation.A summary of the planned procedures, including how the results will be provided.A summary of the potential benefits of the procedures.A summary of the potential risks and discomforts associated with the procedures.A statement of the right to refuse and description of alternative services.A description of the fee for the services.A description of protections for confidentiality, including how information will be stored (1), who is legally authorized to obtain the results (2) and when confidentiality needs to be broken (3).Children under the age of consent do not have the right to refuse participation. However, the clinician needs to seek the individual’s agreement (1), consider preferences and best interests (2) and provide an appropriate explanation (3) to people who cannot give informed consent. The child has the right to have the policies and procedures explained to them in a language that is appropriate to their developmental level. Clinicians should only administer tests for which one is competent. They should carefully follow the standardized procedures for administration and scoring specified by the test developer. Administration procedures that introduce construct-irrelevant variance (e.g. distractions) should be avoided. Only interpretations that have been supported by research should be made from test scores (i.e. evidence-based clinical practice). The results should be explained to the individual being tested in developmentally appropriate language...

History taking is essential in child psychological assessment for several reasons:It allows the clinician to conceptualize a case by providing information about the developmental course of the child’s difficulties.It provides information on the specific presentation of the individual child’s difficulties.It provides information on risk and protective factors.It provides information on important contextual influences on the child’s functioning.It consists of several aspects:Age of onsetThis is crucial for diagnosis and conceptualization.Course and prognosisThis is used to assess the stability of symptoms and to determine whether contextual factors play a primary role.ImpairmentThis gives information on impairment experiences in daily life and environmental consequences of the problems.AetiologyThis gives information on a potential diagnosis or effective interventions.Family psychiatric historyThis is crucial as it can impact the age of onset (1), differential diagnosis (2) and treatment (3)Previous assessment/treatment/interventionThis can be used in guiding interpretation of current findings (e.g. more severe symptoms than in the past despite having received treatment indicates the need for more intensive treatment) and can guide future treatment options. It can also focus the attention on comorbid disorders.Contextual factorsThis is crucial as it may influence the course of the problems or may explain the aetiology. It is important to take the goodness of fit between the child’s characteristics and the context into account in which one is expected to function. The content of history taking often includes complaints/symptoms (1), developmental history (2), family history (3), social functioning (4), academic functioning (5), family relations (6), interests and strengths (7) and views of the problem (8). Genograms refer to a family tree that allows the clinician to document the family structure (1), the relationships...

It is essential to consider the different people who will read a report to avoid improper interpretation of the results when writing a report. The clinician should aim to make reports accessible and useful to all involved people. The report refers to the means by which a client’s history and difficulties are described, results are obtained and interpreted, and suggestions for future approaches to the difficulties are discussed. A psychometric property refers to a portion of the report that presents only test scores and is usually given at the beginning of a report. This is often not of use for parents.There are several pitfalls of report writing:VocabularyClinicians should avoid using jargon, complex sentence structure and too many acronyms.Complex words to add length to the report.Esoteric language only understood by the clinician.Not written in lay language (e.g. excessive focus on scores).Vague and unclear language that cannot be falsified.Vague or imprecise language (i.e. psychobabble). Faulty interpretationThis can be the result of personal ideas (1), biases (2) and idiosyncrasies (3). It can be most readily seen when the psychologist is using the same theories or drawing the same conclusions in every report.Report lengthThe report should not be unnecessarily long.Number obsessionThe report should not focus unnecessarily on numbers and only emphasize numbers when they contribute to the understanding of the child being evaluated. Invalid test scores should not be incorporated and test results should not be reported just because it was administered.Failure to address referral questionsThe report should clarify and address the true referral question, although this may not always be the same as the one presented by the client. There are several good practices for report writing:Report only pertinent informationOnly relevant information to the referral question should be included. Define abbreviations and acronymsIt...