Objectives To determine the psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Parent Rating Scale (VADPRS), which utilizes information based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. (DSM-IV). The VADPRS was created to collect uniform patient data and minimize the time burden of lengthy interviews. Methods Participant data (N = 243) was used from the first 2 years of a longitudinal study on communication among physicians, teachers, and parents in diagnosing, treating, and managing children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The reliability, factor structure, and concurrent validity of the VADPRS were evaluated and compared with ratings of children in clinical and nonclinical samples on the Vanderbilt ADHD Teacher Rating Scale and the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children–IV, Parent version. Results The internal consistency and factor structure of the VADPRS are acceptable and consistent with DSM-IV and other accepted measures of ADHD. Conclusion The VADPRS is a reliable, cost-effective assessment for ADHD in clinical and research settings.

The present review examines the relationship between disaster occurrence and psychopathology outcome for 52 studies that used quantitative measures of such a relationship. Descriptive and inferential techniques were used to examine relationships among four sets of variables: (a) the characteristics of the victim population, (b) the characteristics of the disaster, (c) study methodology, and (d) the type of psychopathology. A small but consistently positive relationship between disasters and psychopathology was found. The distribution of effect-size estimates was significantly heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity was partially accounted for by methodological characteristics of the research. When controlling for methodology, victim and disaster characteristics also contributed variance to the disaster-psychopathology relationship. Implications for future research are outlined in view of these results.

The impact on the family of having a family member with serious emotional problems has been an area of concern as deinstitutionalitation and managed care have shifted treatment to the community and primary caregiving to the family. Measures are needed to assess caregiver strain in a way that can lead to a better understanding of the phenomena, improve clinical interventions, and examine the outcomes of new treatment modalities on the client's family. In order to study the effects of this treatment shift, the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (formerly the Burden of Care Questionnaire) was developed for use with families of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support the existence of three related but unique dimensions of strain experienced by parents of this population. This study adds to the current body of knowledge by suggesting that subjective caregiver strain has two components, and not the single form claimed in previous research. The results also indicate that the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire is a reliable and valid scale for the measurement of caregiver strain among families of children with emotional or behavioral disorders.