The Child and Adolescent PsychProfiler (CAPP)

Shane Langsford, Stephen Houghton and Graham Douglas





SEE ALSO The Adult PsychProfiler

Published by: Psychological & Educational Consultancy Services


"Great adjunct for telehealth consultations. You can gather extra client information without using up limited session time."

_______


"Invaluable in my practice in early assessment, particularly where there might be comorbidity. Clients find it non-threatening and it enables them to be engaged early in their care plan. It doesn’t present equity issues and the fear that can arise from psychometric testing.”

_______



The PsychProfiler is an Australian designed instrument that simultaneously screens for 20 of the most common psychiatric, psychological and educational disorders. It provides accessible and affordable screening via either web-based or paper-and-pencil forms and allows either automatic online scoring or manual scoring of paper forms in under 2 minutes using the QuickEntry web-based facility. It can be used without restriction or training by a range of mental health and educational practitioners. The latest version - 5 2.0 - was released in June 2021.


_______


"Useful for when having trouble developing rapport with a client or when you don’t feel like you getting the full clinical picture”.

_______

 

It helps identify disorders crucial to formal diagnosis, intervention and prevention of further mental health or educational problems. With its multi-use licence able to be shared by multiple health professionals within the same practice and Quick Start Guide, you can be up and running individual assessments at a cost as low as $5 each in no time at all. You simply send a link to the client by email allowing them to complete the assessment in their own time via computer or mobile device. Client screening forms (Self and Observer) each take 15-25 minutes to complete. A confidential PDF scoring report is returned to your email inbox with the results hidden from the client. The report includes the client’s coded data for all disorders, an indication of whether the positive screen cut-off for each disorder was met, identification of which specific items led to the positive screen cut-off being met, a Reliability Index ranging from –1 (absolute unreliability) to +1 (absolute reliability), and report interpretation guidelines.  [Click here for a PDF sample Report]


_______


"Particularly useful for providing information which may have otherwise been difficult to gather within limited session delivery of psychological services."

_______


 

The PsychProfiler was developed over 15 years and has been validated against a large mainstream and clinical sample. (n = 16000+) [Click here for more information on reliability and validity]  It is available in two forms — adults and those aged 2-18. Oriented to the DSM-5, it is a screening instrument, not a diagnostic tool, so allows unrestricted use and can even be self-administered. It has been the highest-selling such Australian screening instrument since 2004 and is used by a range of mental health professionals including psychologists, GPs, paediatricians, psychiatrists, counsellors, OTs, mental health nurses, life coaches and HR managers throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Users consistently report that the PsychProfiler makes them a better practitioner. Many use it for every client they see, particularly prior to the first session. 

 

The PsychProfiler screens for psychiatric/psychological/educational disorders including: 

  • anxiety disorders
  • attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • bipolar and related disorders
  • communication disorders
  • depressive disorders
  • disruptive impulse-control & conduct disorders
  • feeding and eating disorders
  • obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
  • personality disorders
  • schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
  • specific learning disorders
  • trauma and stressor-related disorders.

The advantages of the Psychprofiler include:

  • providing objective and reliable data from multiple observers using recognised DSM criteria
  • optimising the efficiency of clinical interviewing
  • assisting accurate differential diagnosis of disorders with similar symptomology
  • providing more accurate investigation of the presence of comorbidity in disorders
  • aiding the early identification of disorders
  • identifying more covert disorders that often remain unnoticed and untreated
  • aiding with the formulation of treatment programmes by identifying a large number of individual behaviours
  • evaluating the effectiveness of intervention via pre and  post screening.

 

 

The Child and Adolescent PsychProfiler kit includes: 1 x Online Software Licence (allows 150 administrations/uses), 1x Manual, 10 x paper Self-report forms, 10 x paper Parent report forms, 10 x Teacher report forms.



For further information on the uses of the PsychProfiler click HERE.

To purchase more report forms go to www.psychprofiler.com


Please note that any indication of a positive screen on the CAPP does not constitute a formal diagnosis. A positive screen merely indicates that the individual has met sufficient criteria for a disorder to warrant further investigation.


About the Author

Dr Shane Langsford is a registered psychologist who provides assessment and intervention services for children and adults. He is also an Honours, Masters and Doctorate examiner for the University of Western Australia, Western Australia. Dr Langsford completed a PhD in educational psychology at the University of Western Australia, receiving the Excellence in Postgraduate Studies in Education Award in 2000 for the best postgraduate research conducted in education in Western Australia. This research resulted in the creation of the first version of the PsychProfiler. During his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dr Langsford has received the National Research Prize from the Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability and the Australian Postgraduate Award from the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training.

Professor Stephen Houghton is the Director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Related Disorders at the University of Western Australia. Within the university, he chairs the Human Research Ethics Committee, is Convenor of the Pro-Vice Chancellor's Fellowship Committee, and a member of the Pro-Vice Chancellor's Research Committee. Professor Houghton has won several teaching awards, is a regular speaker at various education conferences, and has appeared in the media to comment on education policies and practices. Professor Houghton has authored and co-authored numerous books, book chapters and more than 100 published journal articles. He has been a guest editor of the International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, an associate editor of the British Journal of Educational Psychology, and a member of the editorial boards of Educational Psychology and the Australasian Journal of Special Education. Outside the university, Professor Houghton sits on numerous state and national committees as well as task forces to deal with the special education needs and behaviour problems of children.

Dr Graham Douglas has a PhD from the University of Chicago in psychometrics. He previously worked in the area of childhood disorders, providing research design and expertise in statistical and psychometric analysis to research projects at the University of Western Australia. Now retired, he continues to serve as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia. He also supervises doctoral students in international projects. Dr Douglas has published in journals such as Psychometrika and the British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology.

Reviews

"I use the CAPP with every family I consult with. It is a great tool for the solo practitioner because it is easy to administer, quick to score and easy to interpret and feedback to parents and teachers. I have found it particularly useful for children and adolescents referred through Medicare Better Access to Psychological Services as it provides information which may have otherwise been difficult to gather within the limited session model of psychological services. I love it!”

Dr Rebecca Coleman, Registered Psychologist, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

 

"The careful development and testing of the self-report instrument provides the educational/clinical community with a very useful tool that can increase early sensitivity and overcomes previously existing problems in screening for morbidity”.

Professor Stuart McNaughton, University of Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

 

"I found it a useful screening tool for when I am having trouble developing rapport with an adolescent, or indeed if I don’t feel I am getting the full clinical picture”.

Josh Davis, School Counsellor, Hale School, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

"The CAPP is an excellent screening instrument. I ask all clients to complete the CAPP prior to their first appointment. It allows me to quickly acquire the information I need to address the educational, behavioural, and developmental needs of each client. I recommend the CAPP to psychologists and other mental health professionals working with children and adolescents”.

Dr Michelle Andrews, Psychologist,  The Educational Psychology Centre, VICTORIA

 

"The validity and reliability checks were thorough, such as those pertaining to the readability of the CAPP and the triangulation method applied. What an invaluable contribution it is to the profession”.

Dr Terry de Jong, University of Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

 

"The APP is a comprehensive screening tool that seems to cover the most common adult disorders. I have been using it with clients for several months and have found it to be very useful in aiding diagnosis and, thorough analysis of individual item responses, identifying specific issues and problem areas”.

Patricia Purnell-Webb, Registered Psychologist, QUEENSLAND

 

"The psychprofiler® has been used by GPs and Psychologists in this region. Initial indications from these healthcare professionals have been very favourable”.

Martin Weatherston, CEO, MidWest GP Network, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

"I think the tool is an exceptional instrument”

Ruth Freeman, National Manager, Psychology Services, Centrelink, CANBERRA

 

"I love it! I deal with adults, mostly in an EAP capacity in large organisations, so get the full spectrum of disorders and mental illness. I find the APP invaluable in early assessment, particularly where there might be comorbidity. My clients find it non-threatening and it enables them to be engaged with me early in their care plan and in the process of understanding and managing their difficulties. I find it doesn’t present equity issues and fear that can arise from psychometric testing. The APP is a great tool to articulate from, should the client require further testing. Its easy portability for on-site work with clients is also a major plus and the time-efficiency of this instrument is another feature. It is invaluable in my practice. No wonder the APP is destined for greater things”.

Jeannene Chapman, Registered Psychologist,  Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES

 

"I used the PP last week to really good effect .… the responses gave me a great deal of material to work with, it gave me some really good questions to ask, and her explanations on why she put things were where the real gems were to be found”.

Rev Paul Russell, Registered Psychologist and Chaplain, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

"The software application is very straightforward and the interface is a delight to use. It has flexibility of installation and records may be stored on a file share making it highly useful for research environments where multiple researchers may contribute to, or analyse, the data records. Encryption of records uses matrix multiplication in a manner that makes cracking highly improbable so it should pass any reasonable Ethics approval for data collection and storage security”.

Denis Brown, Senior Technician, Adult and Clinical Psychiatry, University of Western Australia

Table of Contents