Psychological assessment feedback for children and adolescents

Current ethical guidelines do not require the delivery of feedback to children and adolescents assessed for psychological testing. Yet students assessed in the school setting for learning disabilities invest a significant amount of time and energy in psychological testing. By not involving them in the feedback process, an opportunity to promote effective change is missed. This dissertation is an attempt to create an organizational structure for providing feedback to children and adolescents that is both age and developmentally appropriate. Current attempts to provide feedback to children and adolescents will be evaluated in order to determine best practice. Within this paper, there will be a discussion of various factors that may impede the feedback process. These factors include the emotional considerations of the parties involved in the assessment, cognitive and developmental difficulties related to the child being assessed, and systemic issues seen in the school setting.