We document a typology of perfectionism in a sample of academically talented adolescents and directly examine its relationship to indices of psychiatric symptomatology, adjustment, self-esteem, and coping. Adolescents enrolled in a state-funded residential academy for academically gifted high school students ( N = 141) responded to the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Mastery Coping and Superior Adjustment scales from the Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents, the Perception of Personal Security and Academic Competence scales from the Self-Esteem Index, and the Coping Inventory (COPE). A 2-step cluster analysis of perfectionism scores revealed four clusters: Mixed-Adaptive ( n = 51), Mixed-Maladaptive ( n = 20), Pervasive ( n = 30), and Self-Assured Nonperfectionist ( n = 39). The Pervasive and Mixed-Maladaptive clusters showed a uniformly poor profile of mental health, adjustment, and coping relative to Mixed-Adaptive and Nonperfectionists. The Mixed-Adaptive cluster reported greater academic competence and superior adjustment than did the Nonperfectionist cluster, although these cluster groups were statistically similar on other dimensions of mental health and adjustment. These results suggest that maladaptive perfectionism takes two forms: pervasive and mixed. Implications for intervention and directions for future research are discussed.
From its inception as a disability category in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, serving students under the special education category Emotional Disturbance (ED) has been a challenging task for school psychologists. In particular, the vague and ambiguous federal definition has created an environment in which inconsistent assessment practices and decision making are almost inevitable. In this study, we examined school psychologists’ (N = 214) assessment practices when determining initial eligibility for ED, as well as their perceptions regarding the language contained within the federal ED definition. Findings indicated that although school psychologists recognize the need for a multimethod, multisource assessment model when ED is a classification consideration, in many instances, their actual assessments are missing commonly recommended sources of data for making eligibility decisions, including classroom observations; parent, teacher, and student interviews; and behavior rating scales. The results from the study provide a useful overview of school psychologists’ assessment practices and are couched within the questions and confusion that have surrounded the federal ED definition since its codification into law.
Although school psychologists have been called on in recent literature to assume a leadership role in a collective and comprehensive effort to address students’ mental health needs, many practitioners find that their professional roles continue to be narrowly focused on special education‐related activities, such as individualized assessment and eligibility determination. Meanwhile, students’ mental health needs have never been greater. The current study focused specifically on school psychologists’ provision of school‐based counseling, an activity that has been shown to be effective in addressing students’ mental health needs, as well as a professional role that many practitioners have expressed a desire to expand. A national sample of school psychologists responded to an Internet survey related to various aspects of counseling service delivery, including their training to provide services, current practices, and perceptions of the importance for school psychologists to assume the responsibility of providing school‐based counseling services.
The federal definition of emotional disturbance (ED) provides limited guidance to educational professionals charged with making Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act eligibility determinations. Despite calls to revise the definition, the ED category remains largely unchanged nearly four decades after being codified into federal law. To navigate the vague, ambiguous, and outdated eligibility criteria, school psychologists must adhere to comprehensive assessment strategies whenever an ED placement is considered. In this study, we examined the ED assessment practices of 214 school psychologists. The results indicated that respondents all too frequently relied on only select sources of data (e.g., behavior rating scales), rather than taking a multimethod, multisource approach, when evaluating children referred for emotional and behavioral concerns. Implications for both the practice and preparation of school psychologists are discussed. C 2013
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.