Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1977, Vol. 45, No. 5, 948
Children's Social Judgments Concerning Emotionally Disturbed Peers Gerald Marsden, Neil Kalter, James W. Plunkett, and Tracy Barr-Grossman University of Michigan Data are based on interviews with 31 fourth- and sixth-grade children concerning their understanding of the behavior of one normal and four emotionally disturbed boys as depicted in written vignettes. Interview transcripts were coded to assess the subjects' liking and disliking of the central figures of the vignettes and their perception of the degree of the central figure's disturbance. Subjects made distinctions between normal and disturbed central figures and among the four disturbed central figures on degree of perceived disturbance. Liking and disliking were not related to each other or to degree of perceived disturbance.
Novak (1974) found that fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls discriminated between normal and emotionally disturbed peer descriptions on scales of attractiveness, social distance, and perceived similarity to self. The children did not make significant discriminations among the disturbed peers, leading Novak to argue that subjects are not sensitive to clinical severity. The purpose of this article is to report data that support Novak's findings in some respects and differ from them in others. Procedures are reported in detail in Marsden and Kalter (1976). Briefly, subjects were 31 fourth- and sixth-grade boys and girls. Five vignettes describing observable behavior of boys in the same grade as the subject were read to each subject, who was then interviewed concerning his or her understanding of the vignettes' central figures. The vignettes described one normal and four emotionally disturbed boys, including an aggressive disorder, a passive-aggressive disorder, a school phobic, and a borderline psychotic boy. The transcribed interviews were coded using two 4-point scales to assess the degree of liking and disliking felt by the subjects for the central figures and a S-point perceived emotional disturbance scale, designed to assess the degree to which subjects viewed the central figures as disturbed. Intercoder reliability was satisfactory for all scales. Pairwise correlations of subjects' scores on these scales revealed that the scores were unrelated. Subjects' scores on each scale were subjected to a repeated measures analysis of variance. On each scale, subjects sharply discriminated Requests for reprints and for an extended report of this study should be sent to Gerald Marsden, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
among the central figures. Scheffe tests revealed the normal central figure was liked significantly more than the passive-aggressive and the borderline central figures. The normal central figure was disliked significantly less than the aggressive and the passive-aggressive disorder central figures, and both of these were disliked significantly more than the borderline and the phobic central figures. On the perceived emotional disturbance scale, the normal and borderline central figures were seen as significantly less and more disturbed, respectively, than the three intermediate central figures. Within this latter group, the passiveaggressive central figure was seen as significantly less disturbed than the aggressive central figure. Thus, congruent with Novak's (1974) findings, we found liking and disliking scores were not related to clinical severity as measured by perceived emotional disturbance scale scores, subjects discriminated the normal central figure from the others, and those central figures for whom management of aggression was a major symptom were among the least liked and were most disliked. Unlike Novak, we found our subjects made sharp distinctions as to severity among the four disturbed central figures. These findings suggest that children are sensitive to the issue of clinical severity in some circumstances and that children's social judgments are complex. Data pertaining to one judgmental realm do not necessarily predict another. References Marsden, G., & Kalter, N. Children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers. I. The concept of emotional disturbance. Psychiatry, 1976, 39, 227-238. Novak, D. W. Children's reactions to emotional disturbance in imaginary peers. Journal oj Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 462.
948
Received February 18, 1976
Children's Social Judgments Concerning Emotionally Disturbed Peers Gerald Marsden, Neil Kalter, James W. Plunkett, and Tracy Barr-Grossman University of Michigan Data are based on interviews with 31 fourth- and sixth-grade children concerning their understanding of the behavior of one normal and four emotionally disturbed boys as depicted in written vignettes. Interview transcripts were coded to assess the subjects' liking and disliking of the central figures of the vignettes and their perception of the degree of the central figure's disturbance. Subjects made distinctions between normal and disturbed central figures and among the four disturbed central figures on degree of perceived disturbance. Liking and disliking were not related to each other or to degree of perceived disturbance.
Novak (1974) found that fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls discriminated between normal and emotionally disturbed peer descriptions on scales of attractiveness, social distance, and perceived similarity to self. The children did not make significant discriminations among the disturbed peers, leading Novak to argue that subjects are not sensitive to clinical severity. The purpose of this article is to report data that support Novak's findings in some respects and differ from them in others. Procedures are reported in detail in Marsden and Kalter (1976). Briefly, subjects were 31 fourth- and sixth-grade boys and girls. Five vignettes describing observable behavior of boys in the same grade as the subject were read to each subject, who was then interviewed concerning his or her understanding of the vignettes' central figures. The vignettes described one normal and four emotionally disturbed boys, including an aggressive disorder, a passive-aggressive disorder, a school phobic, and a borderline psychotic boy. The transcribed interviews were coded using two 4-point scales to assess the degree of liking and disliking felt by the subjects for the central figures and a S-point perceived emotional disturbance scale, designed to assess the degree to which subjects viewed the central figures as disturbed. Intercoder reliability was satisfactory for all scales. Pairwise correlations of subjects' scores on these scales revealed that the scores were unrelated. Subjects' scores on each scale were subjected to a repeated measures analysis of variance. On each scale, subjects sharply discriminated Requests for reprints and for an extended report of this study should be sent to Gerald Marsden, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
among the central figures. Scheffe tests revealed the normal central figure was liked significantly more than the passive-aggressive and the borderline central figures. The normal central figure was disliked significantly less than the aggressive and the passive-aggressive disorder central figures, and both of these were disliked significantly more than the borderline and the phobic central figures. On the perceived emotional disturbance scale, the normal and borderline central figures were seen as significantly less and more disturbed, respectively, than the three intermediate central figures. Within this latter group, the passiveaggressive central figure was seen as significantly less disturbed than the aggressive central figure. Thus, congruent with Novak's (1974) findings, we found liking and disliking scores were not related to clinical severity as measured by perceived emotional disturbance scale scores, subjects discriminated the normal central figure from the others, and those central figures for whom management of aggression was a major symptom were among the least liked and were most disliked. Unlike Novak, we found our subjects made sharp distinctions as to severity among the four disturbed central figures. These findings suggest that children are sensitive to the issue of clinical severity in some circumstances and that children's social judgments are complex. Data pertaining to one judgmental realm do not necessarily predict another. References Marsden, G., & Kalter, N. Children's understanding of their emotionally disturbed peers. I. The concept of emotional disturbance. Psychiatry, 1976, 39, 227-238. Novak, D. W. Children's reactions to emotional disturbance in imaginary peers. Journal oj Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 462.
948
Received February 18, 1976
