The Foundations of Behavioral, Social, and Clinical Assessment of Children (6th edition; Sattler, Reference Sattler2014) is a text that introduces fundamental concepts and instruments for conducting assessment with children. The author is an experienced psychologist with over 54 years of working in the field. He has received a number of awards, including the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology Award (San Diego Psychological Association), the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology (American Psychological Foundation), and the Senior Scientist Award (Division of School Psychology, American Psychological Association). He is currently Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. The author reported at a recent seminar in Brisbane that he had aimed to produce a book that would meet all assessment and criterion needs if one was deserted on an island without the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) or other test materials, and he has clearly met this aim with a comprehensive text across a broad range of areas. This text also comes with a particularly useful resource guide that includes a wide range of measures, checklists, forms and handouts for parents and teachers, spanning all areas of assessment from initial intake interview to report writing. Permission to photocopy these forms for personal use makes this set a valuable resource for the beginning practitioner or student, through to the experienced psychologist.
This sixth edition differs from the previous editions as it has been updated to be consistent with DSM-5 (APA, 2013), has updated content throughout the chapters, reviews additional new measures, and also includes sections of relevance to today's technology (e.g., cyberbullying and potential influences of technology on suicide risk). The text is arranged into six sections: Foundations; Interview Methods; Behavioural Observations; Behaviour, Personality, Family, and Sensory Motor Abilities; Children With Special Needs; and Report Writing; as well as the resource guide to accompany the text. Each of the 25 chapters is organised to include an initial overview of contents, goals and objectives, a well-organised text, and ends with a section entitled ‘Thinking through the issues’, which is a set of questions (e.g., ‘What are some examples of ethical issues related to psychological assessment?’, p. 39), as well as a comprehensive summary of key points of the chapter — key terms, concepts and names, and study questions. Chapters also include exercises scattered throughout, pertinent comic strips, and quotes that all serve to further reinforce key messages and information. The three supplementary chapters (‘Executive Functions’, ‘Bullying and Cyberbullying’, and ‘Challenges of Being an Expert Witness’) included in the accompanying resource guide are similarly arranged.
Foundation topics include an overview of ethical considerations, a primer on statistics and psychometrics, strategies for becoming an effective examiner, and culturally and linguistically diverse children (CALD). This section provides useful guidelines and considerations for conducting assessments, such as an overview of computer scoring available for measures and considerations for its use, how to manage examiner stress, and strategies for becoming an effective examiner. The introductory chapter and CALD chapter draw information predominantly from the United States; for example, around ethical mandates and language considerations/cultural issues that may be more relevant for a U.S. audience. However, many of the guidelines and considerations remain valuable, but caution and reference to Australian-specific information (e.g., Australian Psychological Society, 2012) is recommended.
Interview methods include interviewing children, parents, teachers and families, as well as general guidelines and considerations. This section includes a number of exercises and self-tests (e.g., 5.6 on selecting appropriate responses to interview questions) to aid practical skills. For example, Table 6.1 also provides potential questions a parent may ask (e.g., qualifications) and a section on addressing parents’ possible negative feelings that may be particularly useful for graduate students or clinicians new to assessment of children. Clear, plain language explanations of technical terms are also given in Chapter 7, which may be valuable for those who struggle with explaining these to older adolescents and parents.
Behavioural observations include an overview of a range of recording procedures and systems. These chapters include comprehensive summaries of techniques, including narrative, interval, event and ratings recording, an overview of observational coding systems including software packages, good examples of reactivity, and guidelines for conducting observations to increase validity. Sample forms are included in the accompanying resource guide.
The behaviour, personality, family, and sensory motor abilities section includes broad measures, adaptive behaviour, visual-motor perception and motor proficiency measures, and functional behaviour assessment. These chapters include an overview of informal assessment as well as standardised measures, including a description, scores, standardisation, reliability, validity, and comments. The comments section for each standardised test is particularly useful and provides a summary of the main advantages and disadvantages of each of the major measures reviewed. However, no information on costs or availability of measures is given, which would be useful information. Overall, these chapters provide comprehensive information across a wide range of available measures.
The Children With Special Needs section includes disruptive disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, and substance-related disorders; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; specific learning disabilities; intellectual disability; giftedness; visual impairments; hearing loss; autism spectrum disorder; and brain injuries. For each condition an overview of key terms, aetiology and overview of relevant biological processes (e.g., brain development/function), an overview of assessment measures and/or considerations, and intervention strategies is provided. Each chapter also includes a section on misconceptions and facts that clarifies key information for each condition. Information on measures in these chapters is generally less comprehensive than earlier chapters; however, links to key resources, as well as example checklists in the accompanying resource guide, ensure information across key areas is covered.
The text ends with a chapter on report writing, including exercises and checklists to improve psychological reports. This provides a comprehensive overview of key issues and considerations for report writing, and includes some exercises to improve writing skills such as appropriate wording, as well as a discussion of common grammar issues relevant to reports.
Overall, this text is a comprehensive guide to assessments that would be valuable for graduate students through to the experienced clinician. The reader is cautioned to be cognisant of the U.S. context of the text, particularly around ethical and legal mandates, and prevalence/incidence rates. Nevertheless, this is a limitation of most, if not all, texts on assessments at present. This latest revision brings the text up to date with current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, and the resource guide that can be photocopied for personal use makes this a valuable addition to one's bookshelf, and is highly recommended.
