Date Approved

5-9-2006

Embargo Period

4-7-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Klanderman, John

Committee Member 1

Dihoff, Roberta

Subject(s)

Educational attainment; Mental illness--Diagnosis

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to (a) locate any impact between the amount of education attained prior to the diagnosis of a mental illness and functionality after the diagnosis of a mental illness, (b) to see if the type of diagnosis, whether it had psychotic or non-psychotic features, had an effect on these results, and (c) to see if the relationship between these variables would plateau at the higher levels of education. The researcher examined the case histories of a group of adults with mental illness (n = 122), looking for the number of educational years each individual completed as well as the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores. The average current GAF scores were 47.5 for those with elementary school experience only, 48.5 for middle school, 51.14 for high school, and 56.17 for college. The results of the univariate analysis of variable tests indicated a significant difference in GAF scores due to grade level completion (with no foreseen plateau) despite the type of diagnosis.

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