The prevalence of reading and spelling difficulties among inmates of institutions for compulsory care of juvenile delinquents

Psychometric properties of the Trauma Checklist 2.0 and its predictive utility of felony re-offending among high-risk juvenile offenders

BACKGROUND

Incarcerated youth are characterized by particularly high rates of childhood trauma, a significant risk factor for outcomes including risky behaviors and recidivism. Trauma-based interventions can ameliorate the negative effects of childhood trauma; however, a critical part of success is careful trauma screening. Due to the limitations associated with commonly used self-report trauma assessments, our team developed the Trauma Checklist (TCL), a trained-rater assessment of childhood trauma specifically created for use with forensic populations. The TCL is designed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of trauma, incorporating categories that are of specific relevance for incarcerated individuals (e.g., traumatic loss). Here, we discuss the continued development made to our original trauma assessment and explore the psychometric properties of this expanded assessment (herein termed the TCL 2.0).

METHOD

We examined relationships between TCL 2.0 scores, measures of psychopathology, and psychopathic traits in a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (n = 237). In addition, we examined whether TCL 2.0 scores were associated with time to felony re-offense via Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses.

RESULTS

We examined dimensionality of the TCL 2.0 using a principal component analysis (PCA), the results of which were confirmed via exploratory structural equation modeling; the PCA yielded a two-component solution (i.e., PC1 and PC2). We observed that PC1 (Experienced Trauma) scores were positively correlated with mood disorder diagnoses. TCL 2.0 total scores were positively correlated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology and psychopathic traits. Finally, higher PC2 (Community Trauma) scores were associated with faster time to felony re-offending.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the TCL 2.0 may be a beneficial screening tool to provide high-risk youth with appropriate trauma-informed treatment.

Proximal and distal movement patterns during a graphomotor task in typically developing children and children with handwriting problems

BACKGROUND

Therapists specializing in handwriting difficulties in children often address motor problems including both proximal and distal movements in the upper extremity. Kinematic measures can be used to investigate various aspects of handwriting. This study examined differences in movement patterns in proximal and distal joints of the upper extremity during graphomotor tasks between typically developing children with and without handwriting problems. Additionally, it explored relationships between movement patterns, speed, and legibility of writing.

METHODS

Forty-one children, aged 7-11 years, were assessed with the Aleph Aleph Ktav Yad Hebrew Handwriting assessment and the Beery Test of Visual Motor Integration and, based on their scores, were divided into a research group (with handwriting difficulties) and a control group (without handwriting difficulties). Upper extremity joint movement patterns were analyzed with a motion capture system. Differences in the quality of shapes traced and copied on a graphics tablet positioned horizontally and vertically were compared. Between-group differences and relationships with speed and legibility were analyzed.

RESULTS

In both groups, there was greater movement in the distal compared to the proximal joints, greater movement when performing the task in a horizontal compared to a vertical plane, and greater movement when tracing than copying. Joint movements in the arm executed scaled-down versions of the shapes being drawn. While the amount of joint displacement was similar between groups, children in the research group showed greater dissimilarity between the drawn shape and the shape produced by the proximal joints. Finally, the drawing measure on the tablet was a significant predictor of legibility, speed of writing, visual motor integration and motor coordination, whereas the dissimilarity measure of joint movement was a significant predictor of speed of writing and motor coordination.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides support for the role of the distal upper extremity joints in the writing process and some guidance to assist clinicians in devising treatment strategies for movement-related handwriting problems. While we observed differences in proximal joint movements between the children with and without handwriting difficulties, the extent to which they are responsible for the differences in drawing quality remains to be determined. Further studies should use a similar methodology to examine additional tasks such as drawing shapes of varying sizes.

Specific learning disability

Specific learning disabilities (SLD) have an impact on discrete areas of academic function. They result in a level of difficulty that is unexpected when considered in the context of a student's overall intellectual and academic competence. A common example is dyslexia, an SLD that affects the acquisition of literacy. Medical professionals have an important role to play in the evaluation and management of SLD. The medical role is founded on the fact that these conditions are biologically based and have the potential to cause significant harm for the developing child. Even if details of biological causation are not possible to demonstrate for individual children, medical professionals may, nevertheless, make an important judgement call regarding the likelihood of aetiology. When learning problems are medically based, it is clearly unreasonable to expect children to do more than they are able and to learn faster than is reasonable. Advocacy around these biological presumptions and their implications is a major contribution to the well-being of children who have SLD.

Recognizing Psychiatric Comorbidity With Reading Disorders

Reading disorder (RD), a specific learning disorder (SLD) of reading that includes impairment in word reading, reading fluency, and/or reading comprehension, is common in the general population but often is not comprehensively understood or assessed in mental health settings. In education settings, comorbid mental and associated disorders may be inadequately integrated into intervention plans. Assessment and intervention for RD may be delayed or absent in children with frequently co-occurring mental disorders not fully responding to treatment in both school and mental health settings. To address this oversight, this review summarizes current knowledge regarding RDs and common comorbid or co-occurring disorders that are important for mental health and school settings. We chose to highlight RD because it is the most common SLD, and connections to other often comorbid disorders have been more thoroughly described in the literature. Much of the literature we describe is on decoding-based RD (or developmental dyslexia) as it is the most common form of RD. In addition to risk for academic struggle and social, emotional, and behavioral problems, those with RD often show early evidence of combined or intertwined Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition childhood disorders. These include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and other SLDs. The present review highlights issues and areas of controversy within these comorbidities, as well as directions for future research. An interdisciplinary, integrated approach between mental health professionals and educators can lead to comprehensive and targeted treatments encompassing both academic and mental health interventions. Such targeted treatments may contribute to improved educational and health-related outcomes in vulnerable youth. While there is a growing research literature on this association, more studies are needed of when to intervene and of the early and long-term benefits of comprehensive intervention.

Academic Achievement Among Juvenile Detainees

The literature has long pointed to heightened frequencies of learning disabilities (LD) within the population of law offenders; however, a systematic appraisal of these observations, careful estimation of these frequencies, and investigation of their correlates and causes have been lacking. Here we present data collected from all youth (1,337 unique admissions, mean age 14.81, 20.3% females) placed in detention in Connecticut (January 1, 2010-July 1, 2011). All youth completed a computerized educational screener designed to test a range of performance in reading (word and text levels) and mathematics. A subsample (n = 410) received the Wide Range Achievement Test, in addition to the educational screener. Quantitative (scale-based) and qualitative (grade-equivalence-based) indicators were then analyzed for both assessments. Results established the range of LD in this sample from 13% to 40%, averaging 24.9%. This work provides a systematic exploration of the type and severity of word and text reading and mathematics skill deficiencies among juvenile detainees and builds the foundation for subsequent efforts that may link these deficiencies to both more formal, structured, and variable definitions and classifications of LD, and to other types of disabilities (e.g., intellectual disability) and developmental disorders (e.g., ADHD) that need to be conducted in future research.

The sources and manifestations of stress amongst school-aged dyslexics, compared with sibling controls

All school children experience stress at some point in their school careers. This study investigates whether dyslexic children, by way of their educational and social difficulties, experience higher levels of stress at school. The School Situation Survey was used to investigate both the sources and manifestations of stress amongst dyslexic children and non-dyslexic sibling controls. Samples were broken down by gender, age and the size of families. Results suggest significant differences between the groups, with dyslexics in academic years 3-5 experiencing the highest stress levels, specifically in interactions with teachers, worries over academic examinations (SATs) and performance testing, causing emotional (fear, shyness and loneliness) and physiological (nausea, tremors or rapid heart beat) manifestations. Results also suggest that dyslexics in larger families (3-4 sibling families) experience greater stress in interactions with their peers, than those in smaller families (two sibling families)--possibly from unfair sibling comparison.

Long-term psychosocial and health economy consequences of ADHD, autism, and reading-writing disorder: a prospective service evaluation project

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to evaluate psychosocial, societal, and family cost consequences of a psychoeducational intervention program.

METHODS

Sixty boys with ADHD, Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism (AS/HFA), and reading and writing disorder (RD/WD) were allocated to participate in a service evaluation project. Every other boy in each diagnostic group was randomly allocated to receive either (a) a special education program (clinical index group) or (b) follow-up without the special education program (clinical comparison group). Nine years after initial assessments the stability of the psychosocial and economic resource consequences over time was studied.

RESULTS

ADHD, AS/HFA, and RD/WD all had severe impact on family life quality. The societal costs were high, but no significant differences in resource use or in total costs were found between the clinical index and the comparison groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The results underscore the very long-term need for support including individually tailored reevaluations and carefully monitored intervention programs adapted to family needs and severity of child disorder.

How dyslexic teenagers cope: an investigation of self-esteem, coping and depression

Research into how dyslexics cope and the effects of their coping has received little attention in the 100 years since dyslexia has been recognized. Why is this? Well it is not an easy area to investigate, partly as most qualitative studies have looked only at coping strategies of specific dyslexics. These are individual and are unsuitable for generalizations to larger populations. This study takes a different approach to the problem. By using three standardized tests for self-esteem, coping and depression, a picture is painted of how teenage dyslexics cope and whether this affects their self-esteem and depression. Results strongly suggest gender differences, with females using more emotional and avoidance-based coping, resulting in lower percentile scores in general and academic self-esteem and moderate depression. Males tend to use more task-based coping resulting in normal percentile self-esteem levels and minimal depression. This study takes the view that coping and the effects of coping by dyslexic children at school should not be underestimated. It also suggests that such issues will aid educationalists in the remedial process.

Learning disabilities in juvenile offenders

The article briefly reviews the literature on the association between learning disabilities and conduct problems across correctional communities and clinical settings. It first reviews the literature on the prevalence of learning deficiencies among criminal offenders. It then discusses a number of relevant points from studies of the association between low academic achievement and conduct problems in nonincarcerated population samples. Third, it discusses studies of postrelease academic profiles of juvenile offenders. The article closes with a comment on possible future directions of the research linking reduced levels of academic achievement and delinquency.