This study was designed to assess the reliability of "The Psychiatric Rating Scale for Diagnostic Classification of Children and Adolescents" as an instrument for determining diagnoses congruent with DSM-III criteria. In Phase I graduate students from a University doctoral program in psychology independently rated case vignettes and completed the 64-item rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses consistent with DSM-III classifications for Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence. Subsequent correlations to determine individual scale reliability yielded significantly positive correlations. Clinicians practicing in three diverse metropolitan mental health settings acted as raters in Phase II of the study. Paired raters jointly interviewed a total of 54 child or adolescent patients and independently completed the rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses. These diagnoses were subsequently correlated with diagnoses previously obtained by traditional psychometric methods. Phase II interrater agreement was 92 percent for Axis I and II combined, with a .96 correlation. Rating scale diagnoses when correlated with traditional psychometic diagnoses yielded an overall rate of agreement on Axis I of 95 percent for Rater 1 and 90 percent for Rater 2 and correlations of .96 and .95 respectively. Clinicians were asked to …

Life events and one's ability to adapt to these events has significant effects on immune functioning. Immunosuppression has been related to a high magnitude of life stress and low adaptive ability. While studies have explored immune response in stressed individuals, no study has approached the area of prevention with low-immunity individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether subjects who self-report stressful lives have lower immunity, and whether "low" immunity subjects under "high" stress could enhance phagocytic activity through biofeedback-assisted relaxation.