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The assessment of child’s development is important within child and adolescent mental health services for clinicians assessing mental  health issues of a child. Assessment tools are routinely relied upon to  aid assessment and to monitor and evaluate treatment and service  effectiveness (Bentley, N., Hartley, S., & Bucci, S. (2019). Child  and adolescent care focus on mental health symptoms and diagnoses as  they apply to their development and is focused on supporting children  and their parents on the path to recovery.

Why Development assessment of children and adolescent important

Child  development refers to the continuous but predictably sequential  biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human  beings between birth and the end of adolescence (Choo, Y. Y.,  Yeleswarapu, S. P., How, C. H., & Agarwal, P., 2019). Children and  adolescent development assessment is important because children develop  at different rates, which are determined by a complex interplay of  environmental and genetic factors and the age of attainment for each  milestone ranges widely. Therefore, a thorough developmental assessment  may help to highlight normal or abnormal development pattern and timings  and be aware of the red flags that would warrant further specialist  referrals when necessary (Choo, Y. Y., Yeleswarapu, S. P., How, C. H.,  & Agarwal, P., 2019). Additionally, identifying signs and symptoms  through detailed clinical history and developmental examination may help  discover key areas of concern and presence or absence of a mental  health disorder. It may also help the practitioner to come to a case  formulation that would guide management decisions and develop a patient  centered care plan. The developmental history of a child, across  different domains gives the “background” on which to understand the  current behavioral concerns and to plan pharmacological and  psychotherapeutic management (Srinath, S., Jacob, P., Sharma, E., &  Gautam, A. (2019) According to Srinath, S., Jacob, P., Sharma, E., &  Gautam, A. (2019), a child with a developmental history of social and  language delay, presenting with peer relationship issues and bullying in  school, may probably have social skill deficits arising from autism  spectrum disorder.

Two assessment instruments used for children and adolescents but not adults.

The  two main assessment instruments that are used specifically for the  children and adolescent are the diagnostic interviews and questionnaires  (Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P., 2014). One  interviewer-based diagnostic interview is the child and Adolescent  Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA). CAPA can be used for children from 9 to  17 years and it focused on symptoms occurring during the preceding  3-month period (Jozefak, & Berg- Nielsen,2016). Tt  is tailored to feelings and behaviors pertinent to young children with  somatic issues, schizophrenia, PTSD, disruptive behavior disorders, mood  disorders, anxiety, sleep, eating, substance use, and elimination  disorders and it can be used to collect information that may help to  make diagnosis based on the DSM-5 (Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., &  Ruiz, P., 2014). Another interview-based tool is the children’s  interview for psychiatric syndrome. According to Sadock, B. J., Sadock,  V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014), children’s  interview for psychiatric syndrome is structured interview tool used  for children from 6 to 18 years of age and it is composed of 15  sections. It provide information on psychiatric symptoms and  psychosocial stress relevant to 20 psychiatric disorders in the DSM-5  criteria including anxiety, OCD,ADHD, depression, mania, anorexia,  bulimia, conduct and substance use disorders (Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V.  A., & Ruiz, P., 2014).

One  questionnaire based diagnostic instrument is the parent and teacher  Achenbach child behavior checklist. It covers a broad range of symptoms  and several positive attributes related to academic, and social  competence. It assesses items related to mood, frustration tolerance,  hyperactivity, oppositional behavior, anxiety and other behaviors.  Though it is not used to make diagnosis, it may be used to identify  specific problem areas that may be overlooked questionnaires (Sadock, B.  J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P., 2014). 

Treatment options for children and adolescents that may not be used when treating adults.

While  the brain is still developing, mental health care can be a challenge in  children. Treatments that work for adults may not fully address the  same issues in children since their care is often  focus on using  methods that may help them to develop skills to manage their illnesses  in a way that they can understand and build upon as they get older.  Treatment option used for children and adolescent and not for adults is  positive parenting program (Triple P). Triple P-Positive Parenting  Program is an evidence-based parenting program that is useful in the  management of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in  children. According to Aghebati, Gharraee, Hakim Shoshtari & Gohari,(2014), triple  P is a parent training program that is designed to prevent severe  behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children by  enhancing the knowledge, skills, and confidence of parents. It  incorporates five levels of intervention of increasing strengths that  help parents of children from birth to age 12 (Aghebati, Gharraee, Hakim  Shoshtari & Gohari, 2014). 

The role parents play in assessment and treatment.

Parents  are entrusted with the responsibility for taking care of their  children. Because parents are essential to the physical, mental,  emotional, and spiritual development of their children, it is vital that  parents are also involved in their child’s mental health assessment and  children. Parent involvement positively may influence the outcome of  assessment and treatment and empowers them to continue to nurture their  child’s development (Haine-Schlagel, R., & Walsh, N. E. (2015).  Parents play a critical role in the evaluation process by providing  information about developmental skills that cannot be easily assessed in  a clinical environment and by judging the validity of the child's  performance in clinic in comparison with his or her typical behavior in  home settings. Also, involving parents in treatment services may  significantly increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for the  child. Engaged caregivers aid the treatment process by ensuring the  child's participate in treatment to completion. Further, as the experts  in the child’s life, parents can help providers in increasing treatment  compliance and monitoring for effectiveness or adverse effects of  treatment at home. Parents involvement in assessment and treatment may  provide the child with additional supports that can significantly  increase their likelihood of attaining the goal for treatment. 

References

Aghebati, A., Gharraee, B., Hakim Shoshtari, M., & Gohari, M. R. (2014). Triple p-positive 

parenting program for mothers of ADHD children. Iranian journal of psychiatry and 

behavioral sciences, 8(1), 59–65. Retrieved from, 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4078694/

Bentley, N., Hartley, S., & Bucci, S. (2019). Systematic Review of Self-Report Measures of 

General Mental Health and Wellbeing in Adolescent Mental Health. Clinical Child & 

Family Psychology Review, 22(2), 225–252. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org

 /10.1007/s 10567-018-00273-x

Choo, Y. Y., Yeleswarapu, S. P., How, C. H., & Agarwal, P. (2019). Developmental assessment:

 practice tips for primary care physicians. Singapore medical journal, 60(2), 57–62. 

https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2019016

Haine-Schlagel, R., & Walsh, N. E. (2015). A review of parent participation engagement in child 

and family mental health treatment. Clinical child and family psychology review, 18(2),

 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-015-0182-x

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.

Srinath, S., Jacob, P., Sharma, E., & Gautam, A. (2019). Clinical Practice Guidelines for 

Assessment of Children and Adolescents. Indian journal of psychiatry, 61(Suppl 2), 158–

175. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_580_18