In order to investigate predictors of children's short-term adjustment to hospitalization, 19 boys and 20 girls, ages 5 to 15+ years admitted to a pediatric unit of a state medical center and hospitalized between 2 and 6 days, were assessed for depression and anxiety. A multimethod-multitrait assessment protocol was administered, including two self-report rating scales, a semistructured interview, a revised parent rating form of the Behavior Upset in Medical Patients (R-BUMP), and parent interview. On regression analysis, the most consistently significant predictor of psychological distress was the number of physical stressors. Implications for psychiatric consultants designing prevention and intervention programs for this population are discussed.

A workshop designed to enhance school personnels' knowledge and understanding of childhood cancer was presented by a multidisciplinary team. Pre- and postworksho assessments were conducted of the participants' attitudes and concerns toward children with cancer, their beliefs concerning how they would react to such children, and their knowledge of medical facts and psychosocial impacts of cancer upon the child and their families. The results are examined in terms of changes in participants' knowledge and attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Little is known about the acquisition of stimulus control in autistic children. Many studies comment on the incidental, unintended, and often bizarre stimulus control acquired when normal discrimination learning procedures are used. Earlier studies suggested the problem may involve autistic children's inability to respond to multiple, simultaneous cues. While this has been clearly demonstrated in some instances, subsequent data have shown that autistic children sometimes do respond to multiple cues. The question remains, then: What variables influence stimulus control in autistic children? The present study examined one alternative, the possible effects of the absolute distance between cues, in an attempt to better understand (and program) stimulus control in autistic children. Three autistic children were trained to select a card containing a stimulus array comprised of three visual cues. The distance of each cue from the center cue was varied, using small, medium and large distance conditions. Stimulus control probes were conducted for each distance condition to assess which of the features the children learned about. The results revealed that the absolute distance between the cues determined the number of stimulus features to which the autistic child responded; decreasing the distance between cues served to increase the number of cues that controlled responding. The distances used in this study did not, however, affect the responding of MA-matched and CA-matched normal children. The possible role of “tunnel vision” and “the distance between cues” in treating and understanding autistic children are discussed.

In order to objectively assess the psychological effects of hospitalization on children, it is necessary for psychiatric consultants to have available to them reliable, valid assessment tools. This study found that three interview rating scales of children's depression and anxiety did not discriminate between depressed and anxious patients hospitalized in a pediatric setting. These constructs may not be distinct from one another in pediatric populations.