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Aims: To examine prevalence and correlates of psychopathology in deaf
adolescents using a multi-method multi-informant approach.



Methods: Data for the study came from checklist assessments by parents
(Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)) and teachers (Teacher's Report Form
(TRF)) of 70 deaf adolescents aged 13 to 21 years, from semi-structured
clinical interviews of the adolescents (Semi-structured Clinical
Interview for Children and Adolescents (SCICA)), and from expert ratings
of dossier data.



Results: The percentages of Total Problems scores in the borderline
clinical range in this population as found with the CBCL, TRF and SCICA
are 28%, 32% and 49-63% respectively. Expert dossier ratings identified
psychiatric caseness in 49% and DSM-classifications in 46% of the
adolescents (primary classifications: emotional disorder 27%, behavioral
disorder 11%, other disorder 7%). Cross-informant agreement between
single ratings and expert dossier ratings was better than agreement
between single ratings. Logistic regression analyses revealed that low
IQ, a signing mode of communication and a history of three or more
physical disorders were associated with psychiatric caseness.



Conclusions: Findings suggest a high prevalence of psychopathology in
the population studied and argue for a special focus on the early
detection of significant emotional and behavioral problems as well as a
multi-informant approach to the assessment of disorder in deaf children
and adolescents. The correlational findings support the view that it is
not deafness per se that contributes to psychiatric problems.



Tiejo van Gent, Arnold W. Goedhart, Peter A. Hindley, Philip D.A.
Treffers (2007)

Prevalence and correlates of psychopathology in a sample of deaf
adolescents

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 48 (9), 950-958.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01775.



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