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Independent TEENSCREEN
Evaluation
Research Project
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Comments and Evaluations
Jim Grapek, President, Associated Producers, Inc. (API) “Producing programs to improve our health and quality of life.” (301) 565-2170
www.associatedproducers.com
My comments in
blue:
“In reviewing the Teen
Screen questionnaire, I noticed several things
right away:
First, many of the questions were vague in that
they didn’t ask for causes. For example, “Were
you uncomfortable over the last three months” or
“Did you experience other aches or pains” where
questions that only called for a yes or no
answer. Any causes are left up to the reviewers
to decide – which they are not qualified to
give. For example, many adolescents are
naturally shy at this time in their lives – some
are bullied or made fun of. In either case,
their comfort levels have nothing to do with
depression or mental health.
Second, I see no mention of prescription drugs
anywhere. In the “abuse” section they are not
listed as an option, and in the other sections,
they are not even mentioned as a possible cause
to how a teen might be feeling. In light of
recent FDA warnings and the associated risks
with many of these anti-depressants and the
drugs prescribed for ADHD, the test needs to at
least include questions that indicate which
medication(s) a teen might be taking and over
what period of time.
Third, as a father who has spent quite a bit of
time with children – and who, as a teen,
struggled through those years myself, (I moved
to a new town and was not readily accepted by
the “in crowd”), I see many of these questions
pointing out behaviors that are quite normal for
that age group – rather than exceptional.
I would also like to know whom the qualified
personnel are, if the school has access to these
answers, who else this information may be shared
with, and most importantly, how the tests are
scored and by whom.
My assessment:
The way it is currently designed, this test is
not capable of performing any kind of honest
mental health screening, and in fact, would most
likely have serious and harmful repercussions if
used as it stands. (Note, I have included a few
specific comments following some of the
questions, but I felt there was no need to do
this extensively since I’ve summarized the
nature of them here.)
Diagnostic Predictive Scales DPS-8 (Youth)
“This
interview (survey) is designed to be used by
qualified professional as an aid to diagnosis.
It is not a substitute for a thorough clinical
evaluation”.
1. “Who spent the most time taking care of you
in the past 3 months?
Both parents
Mother, only
Father, only
Grandparents (s)
Sister/brother
Aunt/uncle
Foster parents
Other adult”
2.
“In the last three months did you have
trouble seeing the chalkboard”?
3.
“Do you wear glasses”?
4.
“Have you seen an eye doctor about this”?
5.
“In the last three months….did you have a
toothache”?
6.
“Have you seen a dentist about this”?
Questions 1 – 6 leave out too much information
as written – unless the kids are instructed to
write a few sentences that are explanatory. For example, maybe they did experience a toothache and it went
away.
Maybe they had gone through dental work earlier
and been told they might experience some minor
pain now and then – something perfectly normal.
What is the point of these questions?
SECTION A
1. “In the last three months….have
you often felt very nervous and uncomfortable
when you have been with a group of children…say,
in the lunchroom at school or at a party”?
As I wrote in my original statement, this is an
excellent example of what is often normal
behavior in a teen.
2.
“Have you often felt very nervous when you had
to do things in front of people”?
Even
adults get nervous in front of groups. This
question serves no purpose. It is normal
behavior.
SECTION B
1.
“For this question, I want to know if you
have ever had a sudden attack of feeling very
afraid. In the kind of attack, I mean someone
becomes very afraid even though there is nothing
around them to frighten them. Sometimes they
feel they can’t breathe…sometimes their heart
beats very fast. The attacks come on very
suddenly, then goes away, but they get afraid
that the attacks might come back.
In the last three months have you had an attack
when all of a sudden you felt you were very
afraid or strange”?
2.
“Have you had a time when you were
suddenly feeling like you were suffocating or
you couldn’t breathe”?
3.
“Do you have asthma”?
4.
“The only time you felt afraid or
couldn’t breathe was when you were having an
asthma attack”?
SECTION C
5.
“In the last three months….Have often
worried a lot before you were going to play a
sport or game or some other activity Have you
had a lot of headaches”?
These seem like they should be two distinct
questions, with reasons attached to each one.
(Maybe the headaches were from not drinking
enough water? Where is the question about water
consumption and the types of food and diet
eaten? Maybe their glasses need to be changed,
right?
6.
“In the last three months have you had other
aches and pains”?
7.
“Are you the kind of person who is often
very tense, or finds it very hard to relax”?
The
schools today MAKE kids tense. No talking is
allowed in the halls or lunchrooms in many
public schools, the test pressures are enormous…
this is the normal state of affairs. Take away
the poorly designed and unnecessary standardized
tests, put the arts back in the classrooms and
stop all of the Gestapo-like discipline and like
magic, the tension will disappear.
www.geocities.com/stophsa
(link opens in new window)
SECTION D
8.
“Some young people have times when one
thought comes into the mind over and over again.
When people have these thoughts they usually get
upset, because the thoughts are strange. No
matter how hard they try the thoughts keep on
coming back.
Now I am going to ask you if you have had
thoughts like these in the last three months.
Have you had to count things over and over
again? Or make yourself do things a certain
number of times”?
9.
“In the last three months…was there a
time when you washed your hands or body over and
over again or changed your clothes many times
each day because you thought they were dirty”?
10.
“Have you often felt you should check on things
over and over again? For example: checking that
the front door is locked…or the stove is turned
off or that something else was done, though you
knew it had been done”?
11. “In the last three months….have you often
worried that things you touch
are dirty or
have germs”?
This
is what we are taught. Why is there now a
proliferation of
antibacterial soap on the market? The “healthy”
answer is “yes”.
12.“Have you had any other thoughts that kept
coming into your mind over and over again that
you couldn’t get rid of”?
1.
“In the last three months…
Have you done things like counting, checking,
washing, over and over again because you like to
do these things”?
2.
“Have you done these things like
counting, checking, washing, over and over
again, only because you’ve been told by someone
else to make sure that you’ve done them right”?
3.
“In the last three months…
Have you wished you could stop yourself doing
things like counting, checking or washing over
and over again”?
11.
“Have you spent a lot of time each day doing
things like counting, checking or washing over
and over again…say, for as long as an
hour”?
SECTION E
12.
“In the last three months…
Has there been a time when nothing was fun for
you and you just weren’t interested in
anything”?
13.
“Has there been a time when you had less
energy than you usually do”?
This
is an absurd question. Even men have natural
body rhythms and cycles. At different times of
the month – every day, in fact, we operate at
different energy levels.
14.
“Has there been a time when you felt you
couldn’t do anything well or that you weren’t as
good-looking or as smart as other people”?
When
HAVEN’T kids, teens or even adults felt this way
at some point? I felt very insecure and
inferior as a teen. I did very well growing out of it without the need for any
medication and today enjoy a balanced,
successful life.
15.
“In the last three months…
Has there been a time when you thought seriously
about killing yourself”?
Here
is where I believe questions about medications
kids have been prescribed and their medication
history needs to be inserted.
16.
“Have you tried to kill yourself in the
last year”?
17.
“Has there been a time when doing even
the little things made you feel really tired”?
Again, I don’t see any questions here which
address the more important causes of this – and
their health, in general – and those questions
are with regard to their diets and nutrition.
18. “In the
last three months…
Has there been a time when you couldn’t think as
clearly or as fast as usual”?
“I have just asked you about the last three
months.
Now, I want you to think about the last year”.
SECTION F
19.
“The next questions are about you use of
alcohol-beer, wine, wine coolers, or hard
liquors like vodka, gin or whiskey. Each can or
bottle of beer, glass of wine or wine cooler,
shot of liquor, or mixed drink with liquor it
counts as one drink.
In the last year…Have you had six or more
drinks”?
20.
“Did you get in trouble with the police
when you were drunk or because you had been
drinking”?
21.
“In the last years…
22. Did you get into arguments with your family
or friends because of
drinking”? “Did you miss school to go drinking
or because you were hung over”?
SECTION G
22.
“In the last year…
Have you used marijuana six or more times”?
23.
“Did you miss school to use marijuana or
because you were too high
on marijuana to go to school”?
24.
“In the last year…
Did you get into arguments with your friends and
family because you were using marijuana”?
SECTION H
25.
“Have you used any opiates to get high.
This includes things like codeine, Demerol,
morphine, Percodan, methadone, Darvon, opium,
Delaudid, Talwin and so on”.
“In the last year…
Have you used any of these to get high””?
26.
Have you used any kind of hallucinogen?
This includes LSD or “acid”, mescaline, peyote,
DMT, psilocybin and so on. Have you used one of
these?
27.
In the last year…
“Have you used stimulants or amphetamines…like
speed, diet pills, Benzedrine, methamphetamine
or anything like that to get high”?
28.
“Have you used cocaine or ‘crack’?”
29.
“In the last year…Have you used heroin”?
30.
“Have you used PCP or “Angel Dust”?
31.
“In the last year…Have you used
ecstasy”?
32.
“Have you used any inhalants…like glue,
cleaning fluid, gasoline or paint to get high”?
33.
“How often did your parents feel worried
or concerned about the way you were feeling or
acting?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at al”
34.
“Were they worried or concerned because
of:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
35.
How often did you parents get annoyed or
upset with you because of the way you were
feeling or acting?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all
36.
Were they annoyed or upset because of:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
37.
How often were you not able to do things
or go places with your family because of the way
you felt or acted?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all
38.
Were you not able to do things or go
places because:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
39.
How often did the way you were feeling or
acting make it difficult to do your schoolwork
or cause problems with your grades?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all
40.
Did you have problems with your
schoolwork or grades because of:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
41.
How often were your teachers annoyed or
upset with you because of the way you were
feeling or acting?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all
42.
Were you teachers annoyed or upset
because of:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
43.
How often did the way you were feeling or
acting make you feel bad or feel upset?
a.
A lot of the time
b.
Some of the time
c.
Hardly ever
d.
Not at all
44.
Did you feel bad or upset because of:
a.
You were feeling anxious or worried?
b.
You were feeling sad or depressed?
c.
Problems with your behavior?
d.
Problems with alcohol or drugs?
e.
Other things you did?
END
Fair Use Notice Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of
the US Copyright Law.
This material is distributed without profit.
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