Few authors can boast a sixth edition in professional literature. This in itself promises a rich background regarding the passage of changes in psychology that Sattler has participated in since the 1950s. These changes have been quite rapid in recent times, with the introduction of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), which the major revision in this edition includes, along with revisions in the chapters on assessment theory, psychometrics, CALD, and report writing. The text utilises 25 chapters organised in six sections — commencing with Foundations; Interview Methods; Behavioural Observations; Behaviour, Personality, Family and Sensory Motor Abilities; Children With Special Needs; and concluding with Report Writing. Interestingly, the title itself is a little misleading as the text takes in children, adolescents and young adults. Perhaps we are all children at heart!
Sattler provides a scholarly review of each step in the clinical assessment process, from the initial interview and observation stages through to formal administration of psychological tests, and empirically based recommendations for reports for expert witnessing. The text provides reviews of many specific measures for assessing a variety of disorders, including specific learning disorders, behaviour disorders, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, suicide risk, adaptive behaviours, executive dysfunction, and substance abuse disorders. Inclusion of broad measures of social and emotional functioning, and family and parenting variables is well documented, along with observation methods.
The companion Resource Guide offers a complementary set of tools, including semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation forms, checklists and so forth, to accompany this edition. The Resource Guide covers a wide variety of areas, including data gathering, issues for consideration, and handouts for parents and teachers. Caution should be noted in that there have been no validity or reliability studies undertaken in the use of many of these resources, and interpretation is based on clinical experience and background knowledge. Chapters in the Resource Guide on bullying and cyberbullying, executive functions, and testifying as an expert witness highlight some of the changes in recent psychological practice. Nevertheless, these appendices to the text provide valuable consideration of the ways in which psychological principles can be applied.
The role of cognitive assessments in the consideration of learning, intellectual disability, giftedness and brain injury is included in several chapters. I note that the text appears to be heavily influenced by the Wechsler and Binet models of intelligence. No mention is made of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities and cross-battery assessment approaches.
Two notable trends in the assessment of cognitive abilities have emerged. The first is the movement toward theory-based test development and test interpretation (Kamphaus, Winsor, Rowe, & Kim, Reference Kamphaus, Winsor, Rowe, Kim, Flanagan and Harrison2005). Perhaps most prominent among these theories is the CHC theory of cognitive abilities (Alfonso, Flanagan, & Radwan, Reference Alfonso, Flanagan, Radwan, Flanagan and Harrison2005). Many recognise the sources of this theory, the Cattell-Horn Gf-Gc theory (Horn, Reference Horn, McGrew, Werder and Woordcock1991; Horn & Blankson, Reference Horn, Blankson, Flanagan and Harrison2005) and the Carroll three-stratum theory (Carroll, Reference Carroll1993, Reference Carroll and Nybord2003), as the most complete and empirically supported descriptions of the structure of human cognitive abilities (Kamphaus, Reference Kamphaus2001; McGrew, Reference McGrew, Flanagan and Harrison2005; Saltier, Reference Sattler2001). The second trend in the assessment of cognitive abilities has stemmed directly from CHC theory and its applications to test interpretation (Floyd, Bergeron, McCormack, Anderson, & Hargrove-Owens).
Sattler illustrates the importance of data, with some 11 chapters devoted to gathering information by utilising observation methods, interview techniques, questionnaires and test measures, before moving onto comprehensive summaries of many specific disorder categories. Given the thorough attention to a wide range of measures in this edition, the limited treatment of well-validated instruments, such as the Woodcock-Johnson, is curious.
Sattler does, however, provide many interesting facts and figures in this edition. The influence of the United States’ IDEA legislation is apparent. For example, the increases or decreases in various disabilities over a 10-year period of the IDEA statistics shows the rapid rate of diagnosis of ASD, health impairments and brain injury. Surprisingly, these statistics indicate a relative decrease in emotional disturbance (p. 20). Perhaps this is why there is little attention in this edition to issues such as reactive attachment disorder.
Sattler provides an interesting discussion of the aetiology of intellectual disability and its categorisation under ‘Familial Origin’ or ‘Brain Injury’, with a comprehensive table of conditions associated with intellectual disability. I found the attention to genetic disorders is well summarised (pp. 524–525); however, given the growing interest in understanding the genetic influences on behaviour and the relative ease with which the human genome is being read, the implications for better understanding in child psychology and early intervention is paramount. Recent progress in neurobiology and genetics is beginning to revolutionise our thinking about the developmental origins of children's mental health problems. Advances in understanding neural plasticity and programming, and epigenetics, are moving us away from reductionist models of development to incorporate social factors within biological models of developmental psychopathology (Sonuga-Barke, Reference Sonuga-Barke2014).
The developmental role of temperament and personality is highlighted in the chapter, ‘Broad Measures of Behavioral, Social and Emotional Functioning’. The focus here tends to the clinical applications of categorising dysfunction rather than the application of personality theory to enhance function. The introduction of the DSM-5 saw a marked shift away from categorisation toward levels of social and interpersonal functioning; a six-domain, 37-facet dimensional model; and the removal of half of the personality disorder diagnoses (Mullins-Sweatt, Bernstein, & Widiger, Reference Mullins-Sweatt, Bernstein and Widiger2012; Skodol, Reference Skodol2010).
The emergence of the self in childhood and adolescence is based on experience and perception, which then becomes organised into identity, which organises further experience and perception. Identity is related to the individual's ‘selfsameness and continuity in time’, and the others’ recognition of these qualities also. Experience is constituted by the subjective, emotional ‘I’ while perception is the basis of coherence and the definitory ‘Me’. In their developmental considerations for the new DSM system Tackett and colleagues describe a life span perspective of personality pathology from early childhood to later life. (Schmeck, Schlüter-Müller, Foelsch, & Doering, Reference Schmeck, Schlüter-Müller, Foelsch and Doering2013)
Understanding the development of identity from a psychological perspective and how it is integrated in the new DSM-5 classification system is an important consideration in, and major revision of, the psychological literature.
The format of a broad brushstroke of perspectives (Developmental, Cognitive-Behavioural; Family Systems) that differentiates an empirical approach to assessment that ‘involves the application of factor analytical and/or multivariate statistical procedures to derive constructs from data’ from a clinical approach to assessment where ‘constructs are often based on the experience of expert clinicians . . . centred on a categorical system for diagnosis’ illustrates the current shift in emphasis towards classification such as that used in United States’ IDEA 2004.
At the end of each chapter there is a segment entitled ‘Thinking through the issues’ that prompts consideration of the general content before moving onto a comprehensive summary of the chapter — often prompting more questions than answers as scientific endeavour demands.
It is important that novice practitioners acquire a sophisticated understanding of core principles and methods for empirically based assessment decisions. The stated goal of this text is ‘to help you make effective decisions about children, particularly related to their cognitive abilities and emotional and behavioural health’ (p. 2) in the context of current literature and legislative imperatives (albeit the United States’). In summary, Foundations of Behavioural, Social and Clinical Assessment of Children (Sixth Edition) provides a comprehensive review of best practices in evaluation methods, essential assessment skills, and ethically sound interpretation of data that informs interventions. It represents a major revision in the series, summarising the practical application of psychological theory in the field of child psychology, and includes new areas of interest, consideration of new standardised measures, and practical resources to assist the clinician in the form of a Resource Guide not published before. While there are a number of areas of enquiry that seem to be under-utilised, this volume provides a sound text for the professionals and students it is intended for.
