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Case Studies in Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology is a collection of clinical vignettes designed to accompany the fourth edition of the textbook Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology. The cases are organized according to the structure of the textbook, which reflects the meta-structure of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). The first section presents cases that illustrate principles of developmental psychopathology, psychological assessment, and evidence-based treatment. The remaining sections present neurodevelopmental disorders, disruptive behavior disorders and substance use problems, emotion and thought disorders, and health-related conditions, respectively.

Each vignette is presented briefly (one or two pages) and reflects an actual child, adolescent, or family with names and other identifying information changed to protect their confidentiality. Cases are followed by a series of discussion questions that correspond to material presented in the text. The questions invite students to critically evaluate or apply principles of developmental psychopathology, describe key diagnostic features of each disorder, identify potential causes for children’s problems from multiple levels of analysis, and/or formulate treatment plans based on empirical evidence.

This text includes instructor teaching materials, including suggested answers to the case materials. These are designed to save you time and to help you keep students engaged. To learn more, visit sagepub.com or contact your SAGE representative at sagepub.com/findmyrep.

Instructors can use these case studies in several ways:

As In-Class Activities

Because the vignettes are short, you can present a case to your entire class at the beginning of the class session. Then, after presenting material relevant to that vignette, you can ask your students to apply what they have learned at the end of the session.

For Class Presentations or Group Projects

Alternatively, you can assign cases to groups of students ahead of time. Each group might be responsible for presenting their case to the rest of the class and/or addressing the discussion questions you want to emphasize. Oral presentations can be relatively brief (i.e., 5–10 minutes each) and might be given periodically during the semester or as an end-of-semester project.

Another strategy is to set aside a class session for “grand rounds.” You can assign each group a vignette in a common theme (e.g., communication disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders) and ask groups to present their case to the class. This strategy is particularly effective for helping students differentiate among similar disorders or notice common causes or treatments for different disorders.

As Writing Assignments or Exam Questions

Of course, each case study could be presented either as a writing assignment or exam question. As writing assignments, cases give students opportunities to review, evaluate, and apply information from the text. As exam questions, they allow you to assess students’ mastery of material at a deeper level of processing than most short-answer or multiple-choice questions.

Perhaps most importantly, these vignettes help students to focus on children and families, rather than on disorders. I hope that these case studies give you greater freedom to engage and challenge your students in new and creative ways. If you have other ideas that have worked well for you, and are willing to share, I’d love to hear them!

Robert Weis

Denison University

Granville, Ohio

weisr@denison.edu