Date of Award

8-1983

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Counseling and Personnel

First Advisor

Dr. Robert F. Hopkins

Second Advisor

Dr. Robert Broshear

Third Advisor

Dr. Edward Trembley

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Malcolm Robertson

Abstract

In the present investigation, the reliability of a modified version of an inventory developed to assess the psychological condition of depression in children was undertaken. The Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression (PNID), an instrument designed to assess depression in children through having peers rate each other on a number of items, was modified to be used by adult raters for this same purpose. Staff members, including therapists, educators, and direct care professionals at the RiverView Hospital for Children, a psychiatric hospital in Middletown, Connecticut, completed ratings on eight boys ranging in age from seven to thirteen years of age. The subjects were selected by consecutive admissions to the hospital during a three month period. Ratings were completed as part of the routine involvement of staff members with the children. The rating process was conducted during the child's first 30 days in residence, a period during which each child also underwent a thorough multi-disciplinary diagnostic work-up as a part of the hospital program. A statistical analysis of the results of the ratings was conducted. Analysis procedures included the Kuder-Richardson #20, Odd-Even correlations, and Spearman-Brown corrections. The reliability coefficients for the modified PNID (MPNID) were significant. When the depression items only were analyzed for the MPNID, reliability coefficients were found to be less stable for various raters. Thus, the depression items standing alone were not found to be significant for the MPNID. The findings suggest that the MPNID is a reliable instrument when used in a children's psychiatric hospital setting by professional staff members. Further, the MPNID has the potential to become a valuable tool for clinicians both in hospital and outpatient settings, providing a simple, rapid and accurate means for assessing depression in children.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

Share

COinS