The utility of modified version of sentence completion test for children and adolescents

Sentence completion test (SCT) is a projective test used widely by clinicians and psychologists to explore the needs, inner conflicts, fantasies, attitudes, aspirations, adjustment difficulties, and sexual abuse in the children and adolescents.

The aim of the study is to modify the existing SCT (Form S) for children and adolescents and to corroborate with clinical history.

A pilot testing was done on 35 children and adolescents who were referred to the Department of Clinical Psychology section for evaluation of conflicts after a detailed evaluation by psychiatrist(s). The clients were administered both the unmodified and the modified SCT. The information obtained was compared between (i) unmodified and the modified SCT and (ii) between clinical history and modified SCT. The psychologist was blind to the assessment of the patient done at the time of workup by a psychiatrist. The two information were analyzed. Descriptive analysis was carried out.

The modified version of SCT gave more comprehensive information on all areas of the patient's life compared to older version. The information obtained corroborated with the clinical history explored by the psychiatrist. This test can be administered with ease and can yield detailed information in a wide range of stress-related and neurotic disorders, which can be utilized for clinical case management.

The modified SCT may better complement clinical history in eliciting comprehensive information on psychosocial issues and better formulation of management plan.