Running head: DIAGNOSING HOMESICKNESS
Diagnosing
Camper Homesickness: Two Systems
Renee
Bader
Anderson
University
Introduction
Summer
camp is designed to be a positive, fun, and safe experience for campers.
However, homesickness is common and expected, and can interfere with the
camper’s experience, group dynamics, and increase the counselor’s stress level.
Home sickness has been defined as “longing for home and family while absent
from them” (Homesickness, 2009). Thurber, Sigman, Weisz, and Schmidt (1999)
discuss homesickness as “distress or impairment” before or after the
separation, and also it is marked by “longing and preoccupying thoughts of home
and attachment objects.”
Understanding
and diagnosing homesickness is very important to any camp staff. The well-being
of the camper is very important, as well as the ability of other campers to
enjoy their time and have proper supervision and equal counselor attention. It
also is important to understand in the emotional drain, frustration, or excess
stress it can cause for counselors. Homesickness diagnoses are made when
deciding how to best treat the camper, from extra support, to the process of
calling parents and even sending the camper home early.
The
first Diagnostic System is based on the emotional responses of the camper. It
is broken into three categories: mild, moderate, and severe, based on the
camper’s level of four different aspects of emotional responses common in
homesick individuals. The first variable is crying, and the situations change
and amount increase through the levels of the diagnosis. The second measured
emotion is anger, ranging from slightly inappropriate anger responses to
definite overreactions in inappropriate situations. Fear reaction is the third
criteria, progressing similarly to anger responses. Finally, general emotion
displays, intended to measure appropriateness, intensity, and mobility of
affect. The diagnosis is to be made based on what category has the most correct
criterion, with at least two of the criteria of the level being appropriate. Appendix
A is the full emotional diagnostic system. I estimate that the validity and
reliability estimates will lower in this system, as compared to the behavioral
system. Emotional criterion is difficult to measure, and I think this may make
this system less reliable. Also, the test diagnosticians lack of familiarity
with camp, or even with children, could lower the overall success of both
systems.
The
second diagnostic system is based on behavioral indications of homesickness.
The first behavior in the system is hesitation or lack of participation in
activities, ranging from high to low risk actives; as the intensity of
homesickness increases, participation will decrease for not only high risk but
also low risk activities. The second behavioral criteria has to do with
physical illness, from reporting and showing minor discomfort (headache or
stomachache) to illness that keeps the camper from participating regularly in
camp. The next aspect is showing shy or reserved behavior in relating to other
campers; this ranges from mild hesitation to refusal to interact with others.
Next is a criterion that applies only to moderately and severely homesick
campers; this is asking to call or return home or even lying about returning
home early. The diagnosis in this system is to be made by selecting the level
that has the most correct descriptions, with at least two of the behavioral
aspects matching the case. The full behavioral system can be found in Appendix
B. I estimate that reliability and validity will be near 90 percent for the
behavioral system. The criteria in this system are more easily measureable and
observable than the other, thus I expect higher reliability and validity. Lack
of familiarly with camp procedures and normal camper reactions in the test-diagnosticians
is one reason I do not expect perfect reliability and validity.
Method
Participants
Ten
students were selected randomly from an Undergraduate Abnormal Psychology class
in a small, private, Midwest University to serve as test- diagnosticians for
the two systems. Reverend Bill Graham, ordained elder in the United Methodist
Church, served as the expert for this study. He has served as the chair for the
Board of Camp and Retreat Ministries, as well as 13 summers as Director of Camp Asbury, where
one of his main duties is addressing homesick campers, contacting families, and
making decisions about early dismissal of campers.
Procedure
Four
cases of homesick campers (see Appendix C) were presented to the ten test
diagnosticians, along with the two diagnostic systems. These students were
asked to diagnose each case on both systems, and these results were used to
determine inter-judge reliability. To determine validity, the four cases were
presented to Reverend Graham, without the diagnostic systems, and he was asked
to rate each camper as mildly, moderately, or severely homesick (as are the
categories in the two systems).
Results
|
Emotional System 1 |
Case 1 |
Case 2 |
Case 3 |
|
|
Mild |
0 |
9* |
0 |
R=26/30 86% V= 22/30 73% |
|
Moderate |
3* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
Severe |
7 |
0 |
10* |
*indicates Expert’s Choice
|
Behavioral System 2 |
Case 1 |
Case 2 |
Case 3 |
|
|
Mild |
1 |
9* |
0 |
R=25/30 83% V= 25/30 83% |
|
Moderate |
6* |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Severe |
3 |
0 |
10* |
*indicates Expert’s Choice
Discussion
Information is
lost in both systems, as happens in any diagnostic system. In both the
emotional and behaviors systems, information about how the camper’s
homesickness is affecting the group dynamics and the counselors is lost. These
are both significant questions when making decisions about treating homesick
campers. The emotional system also looses information about how well a camper
is coping with these emotions; a camper could be very emotional and homesick,
but still able to process the emotions and function well. However, with the
emotional system, one can gain an understanding of how extensive and intense
the emotional impact of the homesickness is for the camper.
The behavioral
system does not capture how deeply the camper is being affected; it is possible
that homesickness could be highly internalized and a camper is emotionally unstable,
without strong behavior cues. This system gives good information about the way
a camper’s homesickness is affecting their behavior, and even gives some
information about the emotional displays of the camper. After talking with my
expert, I think that the emotional system also loses an important demotion, one
that is significant to prognosis. Reverend Graham shared that the case that he diagnosed
as severe (Case 3- Joey) was marked by anger, a male typical response, but Joey
had not yet “shut down.” He shared that he felt this camper could still be
helped through the week of camp, but when a camper “shuts-down” they will
likely not recover or make it through the entire week of camp. This aspect is
not found in either system, but it very important in the understanding of
homesickness in practice.
The first system
was more reliable (86%) however; it had the lowest validity (73%). While this could
be attributed to many things, I think that it indicates that in efforts to be
clear in distinctions, I compromised up the reality of the system. Also, it
indicates that I did not fully capture well the reality of the emotions behind
homesickness. In the future, I would include the “shutting down” theory as a
part of the emotional system, as well as aspects of how responsive the camper
is to counselor intervention. I feel these adaptations would make the system
more valid. Reliability changes apply to both systems and will be addressed
together.
The behavioral system
two had reliability and validity both at 83 percent; this is slightly lower
than I predicted (near 90 percent was my hypothesis). Interestingly, I thought
that the second system would be more reliable and it was not, however, this was
only by three percent (one rating). Some of this may be attributed to lack of
familiarity with camp and children; for example, recognizing what kinds of
crying are normal or abnormal for children, and in the camp atmosphere. Including
lists, or even simply definitions, of high and low risk activities is one thing
I would do in the future to help balance the lack of familiarity with camp.
Both systems
were difficult because the same criterion are present for each diagnosis with
only ambiguous differences in the levels. Including category breaks with
specific numbers of actions would help with reliability, but would not be valid
unless the situations were still taken into account. An alternative would be
creating a point system where each action gets points based on severity,
situation, and number of occurrences. I think this fits into the “spectrum”
idea that would be helpful to validity, however, it would be more complex and
not likely to have good diagnostician compliance.
In regards to
diagnostician compliance, I had only one diagnostician did not follow
directions and clearly mark which category the case was (mild, moderate,
severe). This person did circle individual sub points of the categories. I
decided that it was clear enough to use because in two cases only one category
was marked. In one case, the “crying” criterion was circled in both the mild
and moderate categories. I counted this as moderate, reasoning that the mild criterion
for crying was marked, and indeed the diagnosis would be true, alongside the
strong “moderate” crying indicator which was also marked.
I think that
many improvements could be made to these systems; working to change the
criteria to more valid emotions and behaviors, finding clearer ways to
distinguish between the levels of diagnosis, and a clearer set of directions would
be the most significant changes I would make. Despite the shortcomings, the
systems do hold potential; the reliability and validity are not as strong as I
would like, but they do seem to indicate that the systems somewhat captures the
issue. The systems do seem to offer some meaningful indications of how a camper
would be affected by homesickness, and this information would have some helpful
function to diagnosing homesick campers, which is the ultimate goal of the
systems.
This experience
reinforced my thoughts that researchers must be humble; there is no perfect
research, and others always have wisdom that should be accepted with grace.
Creating a diagnostic system takes careful thought, and to capture the truth of
an issue, at least in my experience, one must think about the issue from many
angles (as a camper, a counselor, a parent, and a camp director). I also was
struck by the way the homesickness models depression, and how responsiveness is
a large part of diagnosing homesickness.
References
Homesickness. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homesickness
Thurber, C., Sigman, M., Weisz, J., & Schmidt,
C. (1999). Homesickness in preadolescent and adolescent girls: Risk factors,
behavioral correlates, and sequelae. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology,
28(2), 185-196. http://search.ebscohost.com
Appendix A
Emotional Diagnostic System
|
Mild |
·
A few tears shed at trigger times (mail, meals,
bed) ·
Mild over reaction to anger-producing situations ·
New or uncharacteristic fear ·
Mild un-provoked emotional displays* |
|
Moderate |
·
Significant crying at trigger times (mail, meals,
bed) ·
Over reaction to anger-producing situations or
unprovoked anger ·
Interfering fear in mild situations ·
Emotional displays* without trigger events |
|
Severe |
·
Consistent crying at trigger times ·
Extreme anger in mild situations ·
Fear in extreme amounts or unprovoked situations ·
Constant and/or excessive emotional displays* |
*Emotion
displays would involve inappropriate situation, intensity, or mobility of
affect (outward emotional expression)
Appendix
B
Behavioral
Diagnostic System
|
Mild |
|
|
Moderate |
|
|
Severe |
|
Appendix
C: Case Studies
Case One:
Name: Brian (male)
Entering Grade: 2
Number of
Previous Summers at Camp: 0
Participation: Brian will
reluctantly participate in music or art, but refuses to swim or play on the
beach. Most other daily activities involve a fight with his counselors.
Emotional: Transition
times are highly emotional times, he is sure to begin crying and find a counselor
saying “I would like to see my mother, please.” He also will get angry when
activities are far away, and sit down, crying or yelling, and refuse to go with
the group without much counselor attention.
Health:
The concern is about eating. Brain isn’t eating at meal times, saying he
doesn’t feel well, and sits with his head down at the table, not joining in the
conversations.
Case Two:
Name: Sarah
(female)
Entering Grade: 5
Number of
Previous Summers at Camp: 2
Participation: Sarah loves
swim time, especially building sand castles with the girls in her group. During
music and art, she really opens up and it’s the one time of day she will freely
speak (without being directly addressed). Sarah, though not loud, has
participated in all activities, except the most challenging elements on the
low-ropes course.
Emotional: Sarah and cried
quietly twice at dinner when she read letters from her family at dinner time.
Health: Sarah says she
has a stomach ache every morning, and Wednesday was adamant enough that her
counselors too her to see the nurse.
Chase Three:
Name: Joey
Entering Grade: 7
Number of
Previous Summers at Camp: 0
Participation: He resists
activities throughout the day, consistently lagging behind his group from the
moment the lights go on in the morning. While there are some activities he will
soften up to, transition times are highly emotional. He will become angry with
his counselors, yelling or completely shutting down, never willingly going. He
commonly starts yelling that he will run away from camp unless he is allowed to
call his parents and tell them what he is being forced to do. He protested to
the point of the camp allowing him to stay back from a 7 mile canoe trip.
Emotional: He spends most
of the day angry, but his family wrote letters for every day, and Joey reads
them after dinner, and cries for nearly twenty minutes, ignoring his fellow
campers and counselors reassuring comments.
Health: Joey asks to go
to the nurse after almost every meal, saying he is going to throw up, and needs
to lie down.