Description

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Thoroughly covering the "why" and "how" of validity testing with children and adolescents, this book is edited and written by leaders in the field. Feigning or noncredible effort during psychological and neuropsychological assessments can have considerable repercussions for diagnosis, treatment, and use of resources. Practical guidance is provided for detecting and managing noncredible responding, including vivid case material. The reasons that children may feign during testing are also explored. Along with information relevant to all assessment settings, the book features specific chapters on educational, medical, sport-related, forensic, and Social Security Disability contexts.

About the Author

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Michael W. Kirkwood, PhD, ABPP-CN, is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He is also Director of the Psychology/Neuropsychology Program in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and founder and Codirector of the hospital’s Concussion Program. Dr. Kirkwood is board certified in Clinical Neuropsychology and board certified as a subspecialist in Pediatric Neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, and has served on multiple boards of directors and expert committees. He has conducted extensive research on traumatic brain injury and pediatric validity testing in children and teens, has lectured widely, and has published more than 50 journal articles and 10 book chapters. He is coeditor of the book Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Children and Adolescents.

Praise For…

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"This much-needed volume makes the case that validity testing must now be considered an essential component of child psychological assessments. Experts in this growing field of study summarize what is known about feigning and malingering in a variety of child clinical settings and provide indispensable guidance for practitioners. Congratulations to Kirkwood for bringing together state-of-the-art research and clinical practices. Recommended for clinicians, researchers, and students in disciplines where psychological assessment of children is a core activity, including clinical child and school psychology, neuropsychology, and forensic child psychology."--Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, ABCN, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (retired)

"This groundbreaking volume is an authoritative desk reference for clinicians and researchers that ushers in the nascent era of child and adolescent validity testing. Kirkwood presents a superb synthesis of knowledge that should be added to the syllabus of every graduate-level course on psychological testing. It is crucial reading for all who conduct psychological evaluations of children and adolescents, including pediatric clinical neuropsychologists, child psychologists, and school psychologists. Others who are involved in reading psychological reports or evaluating pediatric outcomes research will find important insights about pediatric test performance and interpretation."--Ida Sue Baron, PhD, ABPP, private practice, Potomac, Maryland, and Fairfax, Virginia

"A unique resource for all psychologists and students who do performance-based cognitive or academic assessments with children. This excellent volume brings together everything you need to know about this core topic."--Alan S. Kaufman, PhD, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

“This is an important and timely book….[It] should certainly become integral reading in any graduate neuropsychological, psychological, or school psychology program where psychometric and psychological assessment is taught….It would be wise to have it included in anyone’s library who provides such testing services.”
— Child and Family Behavior Therapy

"The present volume offers the clinician for the first time clarity regarding clinical judgment, performance validity test (PVT) implementation, and decision making in a very readable and thorough review of these topics….The authors do an excellent job of clarifying what is and is not known about the topic for the reader….This book is comprehensive in its treatment of pediatric validity assessment issues. It is very well written….This book is appropriate for those looking for a starting place who have many questions about PVT usage in children, and experienced professionals who are looking for practical advice on managing noncredible performance in clinical settings. Given the relatively limited body of literature regarding PVTs in children, this book does a surprisingly good job of going into depth on the topic. There is no other resource out there like this….Even within the text, the authors and editor have taken care to reduce redundancy so that the same information is not repeatedly covered in each chapter. Given the importance of the topics covered, it is a welcome addition to any clinician conducting neuropsychological evaluations with children."
— Applied Neuropsychology: Child

"This is an instructive and informative book on pediatric validity testing that lays out the importance of assessing validity, the methods with which to assess validity, and the use of validity testing in specific types of examinations that commonly might call into question the accuracy of the obtained results. It is highly recommended reading for neuropsychologists involved in pediatric practice. *****!”
— Doody's Review Service