Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults
Discussion: Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults
Infant, childhood, and adolescent development are a continual interplay between nature (genetic or biologic predisposition) and nurture (environmental experiences). The nature/nurture continuum and debate will always be a part of your career as a PMHNP. Knowing common developmental milestone is important in the role as a child provider. Not only is it essential to the diagnostic process, but it is also important to the interdisciplinary interactions with other mental health professionals. The study of normal developmental processes, however, is only one tool that allows the mental health professional to understand the child being evaluated. There are many different assessment instruments and interviewing techniques that PMHNPs can have in their toolkit when working with children and adolescents.
In this Discussion, you examine the differences in assessing and treating children and adolescents versus adults. You take into consideration your own clinical experiences, as well as your experiences in your clinical rotation, and the information from the readings thus far.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze the importance of developmental assessments
Analyze assessment instruments used for evaluating children and adolescents
Analyze treatment options used for children and adolescents
Analyze roles parents play in assessment and treatment
To Prepare for the Discussion
Review the Learning Resources concerning psychiatric assessments and assessment tools.
By Day 3
Post your answers to the following:
Explain why a developmental assessment of children and adolescents is important.
Describe two assessment instruments and explain why they are used for children and adolescents but not adults.
Describe two treatment options for children and adolescents that may not be used when treating adults.
Explain the role parents play in assessment and treatment.
WK 2 Discussion:
Hi writer, Please include an introduction and a conclusion statement and please address 1 – 4 topics in the discussion question. If you do not have the references I have submitted, please do not hesitate to use your own. Thank you!
Post your answers to the following:
1. Explain why a developmental assessment of children and adolescents is important.
2. Describe two assessment instruments and explain why they are used for children and adolescents but not adults.
3. Describe two treatment options for children and adolescents that may not be used when treating adults.
4. Explain the role parents play in assessment and treatment.
Required Readings Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer. Chapter 2, “Contributions of the Psychosocial Sciences” (pp. 93–130) Chapter 6, “Classification in Psychiatry” (pp. 290–299) Chapter 31, “Child Psychiatry” (pp. 1107–1152) American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. “Neurodevelopmental Disorders” “Intellectual Disabilities” “Communication Disorders” Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell. Chapter 2, “Diagnosis, Diagnostic Formulations, and Classification” (pp. 17–30)
Introduction
Recently, there has been an increase in the prevalence of mental health disorders among children and adolescents and assessing this population is crucial for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. This paper discusses the essence of developmental assessments of children and adolescents, two instruments and treatment options that can be used in this population and the role played by parents in treatment and assessments.
The Significance of A Developmental Assessment Of Children and Adolescents
In order to provide holistic care to pediatric clients, developmental assessments are mandatory. They are considered to be part of comprehensive psychiatric evaluations that are used to gauge the presence of any deviations from normal guidelines of childhood development. As a result, a mental health practitioner is able to know the most appropriate interventions that can be instituted (Sadock, Sadock & Ruiz, 2014). In psychiatric evaluations, developmental assessments are vital since some behaviors that children may present with may relate to development disabilities and with this information, it can be much easier for a mental health practitioner to understand whether such a disability is as a result of environmental, genetic or trauma caused (Toros, LaSala & Tiko, 2017). Timely identification can lead to early referrals which are of the essence in the development and overall well-being of such children.
Two Assessment Instruments and Why They Are Used or Children and Adolescents but Not Adults
Diagnostic instruments for assessments are of significance as they help a clinician to determine whether or not a pediatric client has met all the criteria for a given diagnosis and whether a previous diagnosis was wrongly made. Basically, the most commonly used instruments used by clinicians to make diagnoses are questionnaires and interviews. However, most assessment instruments used for pediatric clients differ from those of adults. This is attributed to the fact that pediatric assessments are meant to collect data from additional sources such as teachers, friends, caregivers and close family members other than the patients (Toros, LaSala & Tiko, 2017). Therefore, assessment instruments for pediatric clients ought to be precise, specific and use simple language.
Two assessment instruments which meet this criterion are the Children Version IV Interview Schedule of the National Institute of Mental Health and the Dominic-R. It is worth mentioning the both these instruments are comprehensive and highly structured for pediatric populations. Dominic-R makes use of images of a child by the name Dominic to explain symptoms from different case scenarios (Thapar et al., 2015). It best suited for use among children aged 6-11 years old. On the other hand, the Children Version IV Interview Schedule of the National Institute of Mental Health is suitable for use among children aged 6-17 years and can be used in either parents or children formats(Thapar et al., 2015).
Treatment Options for Children and Adolescents Which May Not Be Used When Treating Adults
Play therapy is a form of psychotherapy treatment option used in the management of pediatric clients diagnosed with different mental health disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It maximizes on the use of non-directed play to create an environment that is safe and nurturing to promote the growth of a child (Sadock, Sadock & Ruiz, 2014). Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can also be used in pediatric clients. It has been described as an empirical treatment model for children who have undergone some form of trauma during childhood (Thapar et al., 2015).
Role Played By Parents In Treatment and Assessment
Clinicians are heavily reliant on the information provided by caregivers or parents when assessing and treating children and adolescents to come up with more effective treatment plans. This includes information about the presenting symptoms, past medical and surgical history as well as the psychosocial history (Thapar et al., 2015). It should also be noted that rarely are most pediatric psychiatric evaluations initiated by a child. As a result, it is mandatory that clinicians have to obtain additional information from caregivers, close friends and parents of a client to obtain a clear picture of a child’s growth and development (Sadock, Sadock & Ruiz, 2014). Although caregivers and parents are irreplaceable and valuable tools in such cases, clinicians should not disregard the information directly shared by pediatric clients since they have a better understanding of themselves and how they feel and think.
Conclusion
There has been some lack of preparedness among primary care providers in treating and assessing development disorders among pediatric clients. This has resulted to suboptimal use of screening and assessment tools. However, with the understanding on the significance of developmental assessments, clinicians are able to use assessment instruments such as the Children Version IV Interview Schedule of the National Institute of Mental Health and the Dominic-R in clinical assessments. Similarly, they can utilize play therapy as an effective treatment option in the treatment plan of pediatric populations.
References
Sadock, B.J., Sadock, V.A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Toros, K., LaSala, M.C., & Tiko, A. (2017). Assessment of the developmental needs of children in need: Estonian child protective workers’ case reflections. Child & Family Social Work, 22(2), 843-852.
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell. Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults