Improving Assessment in Child Clinical and Pediatric Psychology

Abstract

As we approach the end of the 20th century, the field of psychology, as both a science and profession, is facing new challenges. Funding for research has been shrinking at the federal and state levels, resulting in demands for greater accountability and clearer communication with the public about how psychological research can address larger societal problems (Leviton, 1996). The national shift toward managed care is bringing similar pressures to bear on those in clinical practice who are being asked to “prove” that their treatments work (Johnstone et al., 1995; Lipsey & Wilson, 1993). Although these changes have caused significant turmoil in the research and practice communities and some real hardships (e.g., loss of income), they also may serve to redirect our energies to an area of psychology in which we have made significant and lasting contributions, namely, the development of reliable and valid measures (Applebaum, 1997). In fact, the key to addressing issues of accountability and “relevance” for both researchers and clinicians may lie in a critical examination of our approaches to assessment, with greater efforts directed toward the development of measures that elucidate important psychological processes and provide stronger links to intervention and health outcomes (O’Keefe, Quittner, & Melamed, 1996; Sechrest, McKnight, & McKnight, 1996).