Defining the "Disruptive" in Preschool Behavior: What Diagnostic Observation Can Teach Us

This paper presents the clinical/developmental framework underlying a new diagnostic observational tool, the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS). The special importance of observation for clinical assessment during the preschool period is delineated. The developmental ration...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical child and family psychology review 2005-09, Vol.8 (3), p.183-201
Main Authors: Wakschlag, Lauren S, Leventhal, Bennett L, Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J, Danis, Barbara, Keenan, Kate, Hill, Carri, Egger, Helen L, Cicchetti, Domenic, Carter, Alice S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders - diagnosis
Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders - psychology
Behavior Development
Behavior disorders
Behavior Problems
Child Behavior
Child psychology
Child, Preschool
Clinical Diagnosis
Clinical Psychology
Coding
Diagnosis, Differential
Diagnostic Tests
Evaluation Methods
Humans
Observation
Preschool children
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Children
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper presents the clinical/developmental framework underlying a new diagnostic observational tool, the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS). The special importance of observation for clinical assessment during the preschool period is delineated. The developmental rationale for a multidimensional assessment of disruptive behavior in young children, including problems in modulation of negative affect and low competence is discussed. The ways in which the DB-DOS will elucidate distinctions between normative and atypical behavior during this developmental period via (a) the integration of qualitative and quantitative dimensions of behavior within a clinically-sensitive coding system, (b) the observation of child behavior both within, and outside of, the parent-child context and (c) the use of specially designed tasks to "press" for clinically salient behaviors are addressed. The promise of this new method for yielding a more precise, developmentally based description of the phenotype of early onset disruptive behavior problems and for providing a standardized clinical tool for observational assessment of disruptive behavior in young children is presented. Large-scale validation of the measure is currently underway.
ISSN:1096-4037
1573-2827
DOI:10.1007/s10567-005-6664-5