Dynamic occupational therapy cognitive assessment for children: Perceived utility in Australian occupational therapy practice

Background and Aim: The Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch), recently developed in Israel, assesses the cognitive areas: orientation, spatial perception, praxis, visuomotor construction and thinking operations of 6- to 12-year-old children. The dynamic aspect, which incorporates mediation and prompting, has been presented as a valuable clinical feature of this new assessment. This study investigated the cultural suitability, dynamic nature and comprehensiveness of the DOTCA-Ch as a single cognitive assessment for occupational therapy practice in Australia. Methods: Twenty-three paediatric occupational therapists participated in three tutorial and video demonstrations, which were then followed by a group interview. Results and Conclusion: Thematic analysis of transcripts identified four main themes: appropriateness of assessment tasks, language, mediation and clinical utility. Within each theme, the participants raised both positive and negative features. This paper highlights occupational therapists' mixed views on the clinical utility of this assessment in Australia. Limitations of this study and areas for further research are suggested

Obsessive-compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: Cognitive processing of threat in children, adolescents and adults

Background. While the cognitive theory of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most widely accepted accounts of the maintenance of the disorder in adults, no study to date has systematically evaluated the theory across children, adolescence and adults with OCD. Method. This paper investigated developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat in a sample of children, adolescents and adults with OCD. Using an idiographic assessment approach, as well as self-report questionnaires, this study evaluated cognitive appraisals of responsibility, probability, severity, thought-action fusion (TAF), thought-suppression, self-doubt and cognitive control. It was hypothesised that there would be age related differences in reported responsibility for harm, probability of harm, severity of harm, thought suppression, TAR self-doubt and cognitive control. Results. Results of this study demonstrated that children with OCD reported experiencing fewer intrusive thoughts, which were less distressing and less uncontrollable than those experienced by adolescents and adults with OCD. Furthermore, responsibility attitudes, probability biases and thought suppression strategies were higher in adolescents and adults with OCD. Cognitive processes of TAF, perceived severity of harm, self-doubt and cognitive control were found to be comparable across age groups. Conclusions. These results suggest that the current cognitive theory of OCD needs to address developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat. Furthermore, for a developmentally sensitive theory of OCD, further investigation is warranted into other possible age related maintenance factors. Implications of this investigation and directions for future research are discussed.

Evaluation of universal, indicated, and combined cognitive-behavioral approaches to the prevention of depression among adolescents

A cluster, stratified randomized design was used to evaluate the impact of universal, indicated, and combined universal plus indicated cognitive-behavioral approaches to the prevention of depression among 13- to 15-year-olds initially reporting elevated symptoms of depression. None of the intervention approaches differed significantly from a no-intervention condition or from each other on changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety, externalizing problems, coping skills, and social adjustment. All high-symptom students, irrespective of condition, showed a significant decline in depressive symptoms and improvement in emotional well-being over time although they still demonstrated elevated levels of psychopathology compared with the general population of peers at 12-month follow-up. There were also no significant intervention effects for the universal intervention in comparison with no intervention for the total sample of students in those conditions.

Comparison of cognitive screening tasks in an elderly veteran population

Screening measures of cognitive status are traditionally administered face to face. In survey research such screening mcasurcs, while desirable, must he administered by other means. As part of pilot survey research on a New Zealand war veteran population with some degree of hearing impairment, a face-to-face administration of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein and McHugh, 1975) and a telephoneadministration of the Telephonc Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS; Brandt, Spencer and Folstein. 1988) were compared. Brandt ('/ u/. (1988) reported a very strong linear relationship between scores on the MMSE and the TICS (r=0.94, p < .0001) in an Alzheimer patient population with a mcan MMSE score of 12.06 (6.78). For a sample of 44 mildly to moderately hearing impaired veterans, with a mean MMSE score of 25.52 (2.16) and a mean TICS score of 32.52(5.43), the correlation between the instruments was .39. When veterans who wore hearing aids during the telephone interview ( N = 2 2 ) wcrc separated out from those who did not, the correlation rose to .54. Age was ncgatively correlated with the MMSE ( r = -0.41, / I < .01) and not significantly correlated with the TICS. Education level was unrelated to either measure. The data suggest that the wearing or non-wearing of hearing aids may contribute significantly to the reliability of the TICS. Furthermore, on non-demented populations with a less restricted range of scores. the correlation of the MMSE and TICS may he lower than previously reported.