Faculty Bibliography

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Southern California Ordinal Scales of Development (SCOSD). The SCOSD is a criterion-referenced test that assesses six domains of development and was designed for use with children with disabilities. Results found that the SCOSD alpha internal consistency coefficients ranged from .94 to .98; percent agreement between raters ranged from 85% to 100%; and interrater correlations ranged from .96 to .99. Strong intercorrelations were found between the SCOSD and standardized domain-specific instruments (.65 to .92), providing evidence of concurrent validity. The secondary purpose was to investigate patterns of development across domains of the children's functioning. As expected, results revealed a hierarchy of skill development, with the children showing relatively less development in gross-motor skills and practical abilities.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how object relations theory can be used to understand and regulate interpersonal conflict in group psychotherapy. Such concepts as projective identification, intersubjectivity and the analytic third are used to describe how conflict emerges in group psychotherapy and how it can be worked through. Case material is also provided to illustrate concepts and techniques in promoting a group's transition from a paranoid/schizoid to a depressive position. Positive aspects of the concept of projective identification are discussed including its use as a form of communication, a method of reducing anxiety and reintegrating previously dangerous and threatening aspects of the self

The cognitive-behavioral model of stress and coping provided the framework for this study of mothers of physically disabled children (n = 69) and mothers of nondisabled children (n = 63). The first aim was to test for differences between groups in responses to stressful parenting events. As hypothesized, mothers of disabled children reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. Differences in psychological distress and health status approached significance. The second aim was to explore the mediating influences of coping strategies and cognitive appraisals. As predicted, emotion-focused coping was related to increased psychological distress in mothers of disabled children whereas problem-focused coping was associated with decreased distress. Both relationships were significant even after controlling for differences in type of parenting stressor. Hierarchical regressions showed that 58 and 25% of the variance in psychological distress was explained by the independent variables; however, the predictors were different for the two groups of mothers. Factors that may explain the differential effectiveness of coping and appraisal, and clinical implications of this study are discussed