Running Head: QUANTITATIVE ARTICLE CRITIQUES

QuantitativeResearchArticleCritiques
ChristinaMajcher
EDPS612.01

April2015

QUANTITATIVE ARTICLE CRITIQUES

ArticleCritique#1:SocialEmotionalCompetence,AttentionandSchoolAchievement
ThisarticlecritiquereviewsRhoades,Warren,DomitrovichandGreenbergs(2011)
studyexaminingthelinkbetweenpreschoolsocialemotionalcompetenceandfirstgrade
academicachievement.Specifically,researcherswantedtodetermineifpreschoolemotion
knowledgeandattentionskillswereasignificantpredictoroflateracademicachievement.This
articlecritiquewillcriticallyanalyzethestrengthsandlimitationsofthemethodologyofthis
studyandsuggestareasforimprovement.
Thislongitudinalstudyof341economicallydisadvantagedchildreninapublicpreschool
programwasconductedinthenortheasternUnitedStatesoverathreeyearperiod(Rhoadeset.
al.,2011).Thestudywascomposedofanalmostequalnumberofboysandgirls,withmost
beingAfricanAmericanandfromsingleparenthomes.Approximatelythreequartersofthe
parentswerebiologicalmothers,withroughlyonethirdhavingobtainedlessthanahighschool
education(Rhoadesetal.,2011).Childrenparticipatinginthestudyweretaughttheevidence
basedsocialemotionalcurriculum,PromotingAlternativeThinkingStrategies(PATHS),
EverydayMathandabalancedliteracyapproachwhileattendingahalfdaypreschoolfivedaysa
week(Rhoadesetal.,2010).Theprogramalsoincludedthreehomevisits,twoparentteacher
conferencesandwraparoundchildcarebeforeandaftertheprogram(Rhoadesetal.,2011).
Childrenweretestedbyavarietyofmeasuresduringpreschool,kindergartenandgradeone
includingthePeabodyPictureVocabularyTestRevised(PPVTR),theAffectKnowledgeTest
(AKT),theKuscheEmotionalInventory(KEI),theEmotionSituationKnowledge,theLeitter
RevisedAttentionSustainedTask(LeitterRAS)andfinallythreesubtestsfromtheWoodcock

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JohnsonPsychoEducationalBatteryRevised(Rhoadesetal.,2011).Theinformationfrom
theseassessmentsprovidedinformationtotheresearcheronthechildrensreceptivevocabulary,
emotionknowledge,attentionskillsandacademiccompetence.
Resultsofthestudywereconsistentwiththeresearchershypothesisindicatingthat
emotionknowledgewasasignificantpredictoroflateracademicachievement(Rhoadesetal.,
2011).Inaddition,resultssuggestedthatattentionskillswereasignificantvariableinthis
relationship(Rhoadesetal.,2011).Therearesomekeystrengthsandlimitationswiththe
methodologyofthisstudy.
Overall,theresearcherspresentedasoliddesignbasedonathoroughliteraturereview.
Theresearchquestionandhypothesiswasclearandlogicallylinkedtopreviousstudies.This
studyextendedpreviousresearch,byusingalongitudinaldesigntolookatconstructsovera
threeyearperiod(Rhoadesetal.,2011).Thesamplesizewasstrongwith341participants.In
addition,Rhoadesandcolleagues(2011)usedtwoformstoassessattentionskills;interview
ratingsandchildbasedassessments.Finally,theresearchersattemptedtoexaminethe
relationshipswithcovariationtodeterminepotentialconfoundingvariables.Allofthesefactors
helpedcreatethesuccessoftheresearch.
However,thereareseveralfactorsthatmayhaveinfluencedtheresultsandapplicability
ofthestudy.First,therearesomepotentialchallengeswiththemeasurementsandassessment
toolsusedinthestudy.Forexample,thisstudyonlymeasuredsustainedattention.Although
thisisanimportantmeasuretoconsider,itdoesnotincludeanymeasuresofshiftingattention.
Anotherpotentialfaultisthatthemeasurementofachildsacademiccompetenceonlyincluded
theWoodcockJohnsonstandardizedassessment.Curriculumatthatagelevelisnottypically

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deliveredinthatstyleorformat,soitwouldhavebeenhelpfultohaveincludedsomemore
practicalcurriculumbasedmeasurements.Also,thereisalargedevelopmentalrangeofabilities
ingradeone.Perhapsincludingameasureingradetwocouldprovidechildrenwithmore
opportunitiesforacademicandcognitivedevelopmentwithlesschancefortheeffectsof
maturation.
Asecondpotentiallimitationisthatsomeimportantcovariatesmayhavebeenexcluded.
Inparticular,informationregardingemotionalandselfregulationwasnotincludedinthisstudy.
Therearemanychildrenwhomaybeabletodemonstratehighunderstandingofemotion,but
whoareunabletohavethisknowledgetransferorgeneralizetotheirbehavioratthisagetoa
levelidentifiedonanattentionalfunctioningratingscale.Thestudyincludedthreehomevisits,
twoparentteacherconferencesandwraparoundchildcarebeforeandaftertheprogram.Yet
thestudydoesnotidentifyoroutlinewhattypeofinformationissharedwithparentsduringthis
time.Wereparentsprovidedwitheducationandtraining?Ifso,researchersneedtoclarifythe
potentialeffectsofthiscomponent.
Finally,thereareimportantfactorsthatmightaffecttheoverallapplicabilityofthisstudy.
Inparticular,parentallearningdisabilitieswerenotindicated.Attentionalchallengesareoften
relatedtocognitiveprocessesandsomeofthechildreninthestudymayhaveundiagnosed
learningand/orbehaviouralchallenges.Thestudyalsomentionedthatonequarterofthe
childrenwhoparticipatedwerenotbeingraisedbytheirbiologicalmother(Rhoadesetal.,
2011).Althoughthestudyindicatesthatcovariatessuchastherelationsbetweenmaternal
education,familyincome,childssex,academiccompetenceandreceptivevocabularywere
considered,informationregardingtheindividualthatwasraisingthechildwasnotincludedas

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oneofthesepotentialcovariates(Rhoadesetal.,2011).Inaddition,asindicated,thesamplewas
primarilylowincomeAfricanAmericanchildren.Consequently,theresultsofthisstudymay
bedifficulttogeneralizetootherpopulations.Thisstudymayhavebeenmoreeffectivehadthe
samplebeenmoreeconomicallyandraciallydiversetobeabletogeneralizethefindingstoa
largerpopulation.
Theresultsofthisstudyclearlyindicatearelationshipbetweenchildrensemotion
knowledgeandattentionsskillsimpactingacademicachievement.Althoughtherearesomeclear
limitationstodrawingconclusionswiththisstudy,informationobtaineddoesaddtoourexisting
knowledgeofthedevelopmentalprocessesthatleadtoacademicsuccess.Futurestudieswould
needtoincludemoreamorecomprehensive,validandreliablesetofmeasuresofsocialand
emotionalcompetencies.Itwouldalsobebeneficialtoincludeteacherratingstoexplorethe
transferenceoftheseskillsintotheclassroomenvironment.
ArticleCritique#2:TheCopingCatProgramforChildrenwithAnxietyandAutismSpectrum
Disorder:APilotRandomizedControlledTrial
ThisarticlecritiquereviewsastudyconductedbyKeehn,Lincoln,BrownandChavira
(2013)evaluatingtheefficacyofamodifiedversionoftheCopingCatprograminreducing
anxietyinchildrenwithautismspectrumdisorder(ASD).Thiscritiquewillcriticallyanalyze
thestrengthsandlimitationsofthisstudyandsuggestareasforimprovement.
Keehnandcolleagues(2013)conductedasolidliteraturereview.Inparticular,they
madeastrongcasethatalthoughtheeffectsofcognitivebehaviourtherapy(CBT)interventions
totreatanxietysymptomsinchildrenwithASDweresupported,moreinformationwasrequired
todeterminewhetheranempiricallysupported,individuallybasedCBTprogramcouldbe

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modifiedandusedasaprimaryresourceforchildrenwithASD(Keehnetal.,2013).Thedesign
ofthestudywasclearlydescribedandappropriatemethodswereusedtorecruitparticipantsand
determinetheireligibilitytomeetcriteriatoparticipateinthestudy.Itappearsthatmanyethical
considerationsweretakenintoaccountasresearchersobtainedassentandconsentfrom
participatingadultsandchildren.
Therewerealsoseverallimitationswiththemethodologyofthisstudy.Ofgreatest
significancewasthesmallsamplesize.Therewereonly22childrenthatparticipatedinthis
study.Infact,onlytwelvechildrenreceivedtheinterventionwhiletenchildrenwereassignedto
thewaitlistcondition(Kheenetal.,2013).Thissmallsamplesizeleadstostatisticalresultsand
effectsizesthatshouldbeinterpretedwithcaution.Anotherlimitationwiththisstudyisthe
assessmentmeasuresthatwereutilized.Outcomemeasureswerebasedonparentreportsand
weredesignedfortypicalchildren.Thisleadstopotentialeffectsontheactualimprovements
demonstrated.Forexample,parentsmayhavebeenveryinvestedinthesuccessofthis
interventionformanyreasons.Inaddition,theeducationalcomponentregardingtheirchilds
anxietymayhaveaffectedtheirinterpretationoftheeffectsoftreatment.Anotherfactorthat
mayhaveinfluencedtheresultsofthisstudyisthemodificationsthatwereprovided.Although
researchersindicatethatmodificationswereconsideredwithintreatmentfidelity,itisfeltthat
manyofthesefactorscouldhaveinfluencedtheresultsandaffectedtheabilitytorecreatethis
study.Forexample,theparenttrainingcomponentwasincreased,allsessionswerelengthened,
visualsupportswereaddedandlanguagewasadjusted.Itisunclearjusthowmuchofanimpact
thesechangesmayhaveaffectedtheresults.

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Finally,andanotherveryimportantcomponentthatmayaffecttheresultsofthisstudy,is
thattheprimaryauthordeliveredallofthetreatment.Thishasmanyimplications.Specifically,
theauthorsexperiencewithchildrenwithASDwasnotindicated.Thisindividuallikelyhasa
fargreaterunderstandingofASD,anxietyandtheprograminordertoimplementamodified
versionoftheprogramtoachievesuccess.Thisisnotarealisticexpectationforfuture
individualstorecreatethesameresults.
AlthoughtheresultsofthisstudyarepromisingandindicatethatamodifiedCopingCat
versionisaneffectivetreatmentforchildrenwithASDandanxiety,thelimitationspreviously
identifiedneedfurtherinvestigation.Inparticular,thestudywouldneedtobeconductedwitha
largersamplesize,assessmentmeasureswouldneedtobeadjustedtoincludesourcesotherthan
strictlyparentfeedback,modificationstotheprogramwouldneedtobeclarifiedanditwouldbe
importanttoensurethattreatmentprogressisassessedwhenimplementedbymorethanone
individualortherapist.

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References
Keehn,R.H.M.,Lincoln,A.J.,Brown,M.Z.,&Chavira,D.A.(2013).Thecopingcatprogram
forchildrenwithanxietyandautismspectrumdisorder:apilotrandomizedcontrolled
trial.Journalofautismanddevelopmentaldisorders,43(1),5767.
Rhoades,B.L.,Warren,H.K.,Domitrovich,C.E.,&Greenberg,M.T.(2011).Examiningthe
linkbetweenpreschoolsocialemotionalcompetenceandfirstgradeacademic
achievement:Theroleofattentionskills.EarlyChildhoodResearchQuarterly,26(2),
182191.