ABPP Clinical Child & Adolescent cheat sheet

Developmental psychopathology distinguishes equifinality (multiple routes to the same outcome) from multifinality (one risk factor producing different outcomes); both require specifying timing, duration, and context.

Normative language milestones include canonical babbling around 6-10 months, first words around 12 months, and two-word combinations around 18-24 months; marked deviation is a decision rule for audiology and developmental screening.

False-belief understanding typically emerges around age 4; executive function develops rapidly in preschool and continues through adolescence, supporting planning, inhibition, and working memory.

Attachment classifications from the Strange Situation are secure (B), insecure-avoidant (A), insecure-resistant (C), and disorganized (D); D is overrepresented in maltreated and frightened-caregiver samples.

Developmental cascades describe cross-domain spread over time, such as early language delay predicting later peer and academic problems through mediating language and self-regulation skills.

Heterotypic continuity means an underlying liability changes surface symptoms with age; homotypic continuity means the same symptom pattern persists.

Cumulative risk models count co-occurring adversities; risk effects often rise nonlinearly, and protective factors can buffer or promote resilience depending on timing and dosage.

Diagnosis in early childhood requires symptoms that exceed developmental norms and cause impairment across settings; transient regression or normal variation alone is insufficient.

Multimethod, multi-informant assessment combines interviews, norm-referenced tests, rating scales, and observation; cross-informant discrepancies are common and should be interpreted rather than averaged away.

Standard scores have mean 100 and SD 15; T scores have mean 50 and SD 10; scaled scores have mean 10 and SD 3; percentile ranks are ordinal and not interval.

For high-stakes individual decisions, tests with internal consistency and test-retest reliability at or above .90 are preferred; confidence intervals use the standard error of measurement.

Reliable change index = (posttest minus pretest) divided by the standard error of difference; an absolute value above 1.96 indicates change beyond measurement error at 95% confidence.

Measurement invariance includes configural, metric, and scalar levels; without scalar invariance, cross-group mean comparisons are not defensible.

ADHD diagnosis requires developmentally inappropriate inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity, impairment in two or more settings, and symptoms not better explained by another condition.

ASD evaluation combines developmental history, caregiver interview, direct observation, and validated instruments; no single score or instrument is diagnostic.

Specific learning disability identification can use RTI/MTSS data and/or comprehensive evaluation; an IQ-achievement discrepancy is not required by IDEA.

Evidence-based treatment selection matches disorder, age, severity, family context, and preference to protocols with replicated trials; common elements include exposure, parent management, and behavioral activation.

Parent management training has strong evidence for disruptive behavior in children about ages 2-12; PCIT is a dyadic parent-child protocol for roughly ages 2-7.

CBT for child anxiety uses psychoeducation, exposure, cognitive restructuring, and relapse prevention; parent accommodation is a treatment target when it maintains avoidance.

TF-CBT components include psychoeducation, parenting skills, relaxation, affect modulation, trauma narrative, cognitive processing, and safety planning.

Adolescent depression: IPT-A and CBT have evidence; fluoxetine is FDA-approved for ages 8-17, with monitoring for suicidal ideation and activation.

ASD early intervention: naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions blend behavioral and developmental strategies; parent-mediated models extend intensity and generalization.

Treatment plans specify target, baseline, measurable goal, intervention, responsible person, and review date; progress monitoring uses reliable and clinically significant change.

Stepped care starts with low-intensity evidence-based options and escalates when monitoring shows nonresponse; measurement-based care improves detection of deterioration.

Consultation models include client-centered, consultee-centered, behavioral, and organizational; role, consent, confidentiality, and decision authority are clarified at the outset.

School MTSS tiers are Tier 1 universal, Tier 2 targeted, and Tier 3 intensive; progress monitoring and fidelity data determine movement across tiers.

FBA identifies antecedents, behavior, and consequences; a BIP teaches replacement behavior and modifies environment and reinforcement; manifestation determination applies to discipline.

IEP eligibility requires a qualifying disability and educational need; Section 504 provides accommodations for a disability that limits major life activities.

Medical collaboration requires written release, minimum necessary information, clarity about prescribing versus psychological recommendations, and monitoring of side effects.

Wraparound is family-driven, strengths-based, team-based, and community-oriented; it addresses complex needs and emphasizes natural supports and cultural responsiveness.

Mandated reporting overrides confidentiality when reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect exists; consultation does not replace the legal report.

Integrated behavioral health uses warm handoffs, shared treatment plans, and measurable outcomes; role clarity prevents duplication and boundary confusion.

Informed consent for minors generally requires parental permission plus developmentally appropriate assent; emergency, abuse, and some adolescent confidentiality exceptions vary by jurisdiction.

HIPAA governs protected health information in covered entities; FERPA governs education records; test materials and test data have different release considerations.

Multiple relationships are not automatically unethical but are problematic when exploitation, impaired objectivity, or harm is likely; role clarification and consultation are decision rules.

Cultural formulation addresses identity, explanatory models, stressors, supports, and clinician-client differences; idioms of distress may not map onto DSM categories.

Diagnostic overshadowing occurs when a salient condition such as intellectual disability or autism obscures comorbid symptoms; structured interviews and collateral reduce this bias.

The mandated reporting standard is reasonable suspicion, not proof; documentation includes observations, statements, actions, and the agency contacted.

Forensic and therapeutic roles should be separated; custody evaluations address best interests and parenting capacity, not therapy goals.

Telepsychology requires licensure where the client is located, verification of identity and location, privacy safeguards, and emergency planning.

RCTs support causal inference through random assignment; intention-to-treat, allocation concealment, and blinding reduce bias.

Effect size d is about 0.2 small, 0.5 medium, and 0.8 large; NNT = 1/absolute risk reduction; statistical significance does not equal clinical significance.

Reliability types are internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater; validity types are content, construct, and criterion; SEM estimates measurement error around an observed score.

Mediation tests mechanisms (X to M to Y); moderation tests conditional effects (X to Y varies by W); temporal ordering and measurement quality constrain causal claims.

Single-case designs include ABAB reversal and multiple baseline; repeated measurement, stable baselines, and randomization strengthen functional inference.

Evidence hierarchies rank systematic reviews/meta-analyses and RCTs above cohort, case-control, and case series; GRADE separates certainty from recommendation strength.

Implementation outcomes include fidelity, acceptability, adoption, and sustainability; RE-AIM evaluates reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance.

Outcome evaluation compares baseline and repeated measures against benchmarks, reliable change, and clinical significance; informant discrepancies are data, not nuisance.

Supervision contracts specify goals, methods, evaluation, confidentiality, emergency contact, fees, and due-process procedures; developmental and competency-based models guide structure.

The discrimination model crosses supervision focus (intervention, conceptualization, personalization) with supervisor role (teacher, counselor, consultant).

Formative feedback is ongoing and specific; summative evaluation is a checkpoint decision; gatekeeping requires documented remediation and due process.

Direct observation, recorded sessions, and validated competency ratings outperform self-report for supervision evaluation.

Supervisor legal responsibility extends to supervisee services within the supervisory relationship; informed consent discloses supervision and observation.

Multicultural supervision addresses identity, power, microaggressions, and cultural countertransference; parallel process can mirror client dynamics.

Teaching uses backward design (outcomes, assessment, activities), scaffolding, spaced retrieval, and formative feedback; Bloom's taxonomy ranges from remembering to creating.

Leadership in child mental health includes change management, psychological safety, quality improvement, advocacy, and burnout prevention.