Sample Psychological Report for Case Example 1: D.S.*

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Sample Psychological Report for Case Example 1
D.S. The STAXI-2 C/A was administered to D.S.,
a 15-year-old Caucasian high school freshman boy,
to assess his experience, expression, and control
of anger. D.S.s anger profile was evaluated by
comparing his scores on the STAXI-2 C/A scales
and subscales with normative data for males
between 15 and 18 years of age. D.S.s percentile
rank and T-score profiles are included with this
report. D.S.s STAXI-2 C/A S-Ang percentile
rank suggests he did not experience an Elevated
level of anger at the time of evaluation.
However, his S-Ang/F percentile rank of 66 is
near the upper end of the Average range,
suggesting above-average feelings of annoyance.
D.S.s general disposition to experience anger
was also evaluated. His T-Ang subscale
percentiles indicate a significant disparity
between his nearly Elevated T-Ang/T score (i.e.,
73rd percentile) and his Low T-Ang/R score (i.e.,
23rd percentile). A further review of this
disparity, using a T-score comparison approach,
suggests an important difference, which indicates
that D.S. tends to experience anger frequently
across situations. However, when he is being
evaluated or criticized, he tends to experience
anger to a notably lesser extent than do his
similarly aged male peers. This is a real life
clinical case from Dr. Brunners private practice
work
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Sample Psychological Report for Case Example 1
D.S. (continued) D.S. often tends to
internalize and suppress his anger, as indicated
by his Very High AX-I score (i.e., 99th
percentile) and his substantially lower AX-O
score (i.e., 45th percentile). Comparison of
D.S.s T scores (which are better to use than
percentiles when directly comparing scores on
scales) further confirms that he has a very
strong internalizing anger suppression style.
Moreover, in terms of anger control, his
responses suggest that he tends to put an
above-average amount of energy into attempting to
control his anger (i.e., AC score in the 65th
percentile) as compared to his similarly aged
peers. Item-by-item analysis was conducted to
assess those items that, by themselves, suggest
behavior of concern that is strong enough to
warrant a follow-up interview. Items of concern
in D.S.s case include (a) I am hotheaded,
endorsed as Sometimes (Item 19) (b) If I do not
like someone, I keep it a secret, endorsed as
Sometimes (Item 22) (c) I hide my anger,
endorsed as Often (Item 25) and (d) I keep my
anger in, endorsed as Often (Item 28). These
items suggest that D.S. may be at risk for
exhibiting explosive anger (along with
stress-based health problems) due to his
internalizing style, leading to accumulations of
anger that might be released once a certain
threshold is reached.