OBJECTIVES: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common psychiatric condition, may impair a child's ability to learn and to form social relationships, tasks critical to healthy development. This study describes the prevalence of the disorder among children in special education programs and identifies the extent and predictors of unmet service needs. METHODS: A 2-stage screening protocol of a countywide population of second- through fourth-grade students in special education was conducted to (1) screen for ADHD, employing standardized parent and teacher questionnaires, and determine health services use (n = 499) and (2) perform diagnostic assessments of ADHD (n = 318). RESULTS: Almost half of the children qualified for a diagnosis of ADHD, yet only half of those were reportedly receiving care for the condition, mainly in the general health care sector. Girls were more than 3 times as likely as boys to have unmet service needs; minority status, low income, and health maintenance organization coverage also emerged as possible risk factors for unmet service needs. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD is a common yet often untreated condition among children in special education. Mental health services for children with this disorder should be integrated with general health care and special education programs.

Differential standards of college grading were examined, and an index of grading standards was computed using pairwise comparisons of grades in 17 major fields. These grades were obtained by an analysis of the transcripts of a randomly selected sample of 475 undergraduates at a medium sized public university. This index correlates highly in a negative direction with scores on the verbal and mathematical portions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test of the College Entrance Examination Board (SAT—V and SAT—M) and HSGPA. These results further support the application of adaptation level theory to college grading standards, for it was found that at the institution studied fields with lower ability students as compared with those with higher ability students employed less stringent grading criteria. The results are discussed in regard to graduate school admission and to the need for a weighting system for grades earned in different fields.

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The authors examine the prevalence of acute traumatic dissociative responses in a group of 115 law enforcement officers involved in critical incidents. Law enforcement officers were retrospectively surveyed for the presence of dissociative symptoms at the time of the critical incident, as well as for the presence of acute stress symptoms and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results show that 90% of the officers reported experiencing a dissociative response during the critical incident. Thirty percent meet the Dissociative Criterion B of acute stress disorder under the DSM-IV. The mean number of dissociative symptoms in this group was two and one-half. In addition, 19% of the law enforcement officers reported varying forms of memory impairment for details of the incident. There were no reports of amnesia for the entire event. The clinical, forensic, and legal implications of these preliminary findings are discussed in this paper.