Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and Behavior

As demand for psychological services continues to increase, assessment of personality and behavior continues to be a central activity. And when dealing with children and adolescents, psychological assessment can present even greater challenges. Therefore, this text – now in its second edition – provides a welcome and timely review of personality and behavior in children and adolescents within a context of the psychological knowledge base necessary for contemporary assessment practice.

The text is organized into three sections, consistent with the authors’ approach to teaching:

 - Part I provides students with the psychological knowledge base necessary for modern assessment practice, including historical perspectives, measurement science, child psychopathology, ethical, legal, and cultural issues, and the basics of beginning the assessment process.

 - Part II gives students a broad review of the specific assessment methods used by psychologists, accompanied by specific advice regarding the usage and strengths and weaknesses of each method.

 - Part III helps students learn to perform some of the most sophisticated of assessment practices: integrating and communicating assessment results and infusing assessment practice with knowledge of child development and psychopathology.

Although the volume is designed primarily as a text for beginning graduate students, Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and Behavior is also useful as a "refresher" for clinicians who are looking for updated personality and behavior assessment information.

Randy W. Kamphaus is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia. In addition to classroom work, he has served in roles such as the Director of Training for the doctoral program in School Psychology, the Director of the School Psychology Clinic, and as the Faculty Administrator for Research in the College of Education.

A focus on issues related to clinical assessment has led Dr. Kamphaus to pursue research in classification methods, differential diagnosis, test development and learning disability and ADHD assessment. He has served as principal investigator, coinvestigator, or consultant on several federally funded research projects dealing with early intervention and prevention, child classification methods, prevalency of ADHD and Conduct Disorder in Latin America, and violence prevention in schools.

As a licensed psychologist and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), he has contributed extensively to his profession, and he is Past-President of the Division of School Psychology for APA. Dr. Kamphaus has also authored or coauthored 5 books, 2 psychological tests, more than 40 scientific journal articles, and more than 20 book chapters. He also participates in scholarship in the field through work as an editorial board member, associate editor, test reviewer, and newsletter editor. Dr. Kamphaus is a frequent guest lecturer and speaker.