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Abstract

A videotape-administered role play test of positive and negative assertion, the Behavioral Test of Interpersonal Competence for Children (BTICC), was administered to 17 emotionally disturbed and a matched sample of 17 nondisturbed boys ages 9-11 attending a nonurban school system. The two samples did not differ on mean age or IQ. Boys' role play responses to the videotaped narration and child prompt were scored from audiotapes for content, voice quality, latency, and number of words. The content of boys' responses to positive, negative, and combined assertion scenes as well as the incidence of inappropriate assertion (i.e., withdrawn or aggressive responses) on the negative assertion scenes differentiated the disturbed and nondisturbed boys. Two content scores entered into a significant discriminant function. The place of role plays in the assessment of boys suspected of behavioral or emotional disturbance is discussed. Future research is needed to determine the validity of the BTICC with more distinct clinical subgroups.

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Performance of Disturbed and Nondisturbed Boys on a Role Play Test of Social Competence

Abstract

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