This PDF file contains only Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of the DECA-C Manual. There is no Technical Manual for DECA-C. These two chapters contain the following technical information: Standardization Reliability Validity Development and Standardization Development of the DECA-C Items Two approaches were used to develop the initial set of DECA-C items. First, the literature on resilience (e.g. Werner & Smith 1982, 1992) was carefully reviewed and behavioral descriptions of resilient children noted. In addition, focus groups with both preschool teachers and parents of preschoolers were conducted. In the focus group sessions, parents and teachers were asked to describe the behaviors of children who "were likely to do well" or that indicated that a child was "doing well" in regards to social and emotional health. Conversely, parents and teachers were also asked to describe behaviors that indicated a child was "likely to have problems." These behavioral descriptions were then used to generate rating scale items. Second, items related to emotional and behavioral problems found in some preschool children were selected from the childhood age level of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD) (Naglieri, LeBuffe and Pfeiffer, 1994). The content of the DSMD was derived primarily from the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) (APA, 1994). These two complementary approaches ensured that the DECA-C would provide a balanced examination of each child's protective factors and behavioral concerns. All the items were written to measure observable behaviors that require little or no inference on the part of the Rater. Careful attention was also paid to important psychometric qualities such as reliability and validity as well as ease of use of the scales. Throughout all phases of item development, the reading level of the items and rater directions were carefully considered so that the overall readability level of the text would be as low as possible. The item development phase resulted in a pool of items, which served as the starting point in the construction of the DECA-C. A pilot study was con-15 Chapter 2 ducted in the spring of 1997 to examine the usefulness of the initial set of items and their interrelationships. The results of the pilot study were used to create two forms, which were then used in the national standardization study. The first form (Form A) contained 53 items related to within-child protective factors in preschoolers. The second form (Form B) contained the same 53 protective factor items and an additional 77 items related to emotional and behavioral concerns found in some preschool children. These two different forms were developed because the DECA-C was standardized simultaneously with the DECA, which contains only protective factor items and a brief behavioral concern rating scale. National Standardization The DECA-C was standardized through a carefully prescribed method so that the sample would closely represent the United...

No abstract

This paper compares the advantages of a strength-based perspective to the long-standing pathology-based approach to assessment. Theoretical advantages to strength-based assessment, such as greater compatibility with early prevention efforts and increased acceptance by multiple stakeholders, are suggested. The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA), a reliable measure of within-child protective factors in preschoolers, is used to empirically validate the utility of strength-based assessment. The authors found the DECA to discriminate between groups of preschoolers with and without emotional and behavior problems, the DECA Total Protective Factor Scale to predict group membership just as well as the DECA Behavioral Concerns Screener, and the DECA assessment of protective factors to predict behavioral concerns as well as a standardized assessment of risk. These empirical findings, combined with the presented theoretical rationale, indicate that a strength-based perspective and the resilience model have great utility for universal use with preschool populations.Strength-based assessment and intervention is a comparatively new approach in child psychology, especially in contrast to the more established pathology-oriented models of childhood psychopathology. As a consequence, the literature discussing the relative advantages and challenges of strengthbased approaches is sparse and often anecdotal. After five years of implementing a strength-based assessment and intervention program for at-risk preschoolers, the Devereux Early Childhood Initiative can now further explain the merit of the strength-based perspective. This article shares some of the compelling theoretical reasons that one could use to advocate for a strengths orientation. Though many of these assertions have not yet been studied empirically, this article will present contrasted group data that clearly show the utility of strength-based assessment. This article is written in hope that the findings will encourage researchers and practitioners to put additional assumptions about the strengths perspective through a similar evaluative process.The most notable advantage of a strength-based approach is that it lends itself far more readily to primary prevention and wellness-promotion than a pathology-focused model. Rather than waiting for challenging or symptomatic behaviors to occur, a strength-based model can assess the absence or relative weakness of any necessary skill, competency, or attribute so that an intervention designed to strengthen these characteristics can be implemented prior to the emergence of problematic behaviors. When done effectively, this can result in either the avoidance of symptomatic behaviors completely or at least in their reduced severity, longevity, or pervasiveness. As Walker et al. (1996) explain so well, this rational for the strength perspective has already been embraced by more medically oriented sectors of the human service field. For example, the Department of Public Health makes recommenda-

No abstract

No abstract