Why a Development Assessment of Children and Adolescents is Important
Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

THE JOB IS TO REPLY WITH A COMMENT TO EACH POST, POST 1 AND POST 2. WITH 2 COMPLETED (EDUCATIONAL REFERENCE) includidig retrival or doi, IN APA WITH CITATION ABOVE 2013 PER COMMENT.

POST 1

Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The assessment process of children and adolescents in psychiatry is vastly different than that of adults. Why is this? Oftentimes, children have the same emotional, cognitive, and behavioral deficits. In children and adolescents, however, the justification for behaviors isn’t always as easy to determine. Per the NIMH (2019), children are more difficult to diagnose because of their lack of understanding of their symptoms, withdrawn demeanor, and influence of external factors on their behaviors. Because of this, specific assessment tools are employed that differentiate child/adolescent assessments from that of adults.

Why a Development Assessment of Children and Adolescents is Important

Bellman, Byrne, and Sege (2013) suggest that behavioral deficits in adulthood are often correlated to developmental delays in childhood. Likewise, Shogren, et al. (2015) discussed a direct correlation to emotional support needs in children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and behavioral deficits in adulthood. Developmental delays aren’t always cognitive in nature. Developmental delays in children and adolescents can be cognitive, such as those caused by chromosomal disorders, or seizure disorders. Developmental delays can be social, emotional, or behavioral–such as autism disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. With certain developmental delays, alterations in brain development can affect the way these individuals process and react to information—causing difficulties in learning, communication, and interpersonal interactions (NYU Langone Health, 2019). Understanding which delays are present, if any, can assist in determining viable treatment options and potential behavioral concerns that may manifest.

Two Assessment Instruments and Justification for Use in Children/Adolescents but Not Adults

Two screening tools unique to the treatment of adolescents and children are as follows: The C-GAS and the HEADSSS questionnaire. The C-GAS, or Children’s Global Assessment Scale, is used for children and adolescents, ages 4-16, to determine any functional impairments that may exist (NSW Department of Health, 2015). This scale is not utilized in adults, because it specifically measures the child’s level of functioning in areas such as school, with peers, emotional functioning, and functioning within society (NSW Department of Health, 2015). The HEADSSS questionnaire, however, was developed to determine adolescent risk factors in the following areas: home, Education/employment, activities, drugs, sexuality, suicide/self-image, and safety (Heard Alliance, 2011). This assessment tool is used for adolescents only to determine specific risk factors in the child’s life. Afterall, certain risk factors can lead to at-risk behaviors. This assessment tool identifies those factors in hopes of establishing protective mechanisms.

Two Treatment Options for Children/Adolescents that are Not Used in Adults

There are several treatment modalities favored in the child/adolescent populations that are often not employed in adult mental health treatment. These include the use of parental participation and favoritism toward psychotherapy opposed to medication usage. Many psychotropic medications and other medications used in the mental health treatment of children and adolescents are based on evidence-based treatment regimens, opposed to actual pediatric dosing. In addition, side effects of medications warrant caution in younger age groups. Because of this, psychotherapy is the most highly recommended treatment option for children. Psychotherapy is equally utilized in adult psychiatric treatment. However, adult treatment is often augmented with psychopharmacological intervention. In addition, treatment for children entails frequent evaluation. For example, the NIMH (2019) proposed that the incorporation of “teaching skills” and “practicing skills” within the home are unique to child/adolescent psychiatric care. This requires frequent evalution to determine if these skills are resolving the child’s mental health concerns, whether it be improvements adacemically, improved social skills, or a decrease in disruptive behaviors.

Parental Role in Assessment and Treatment of Children/Adolescents

Parents play a major role in their child’s psychiatric care. Per Haine-Schlagel and Walsh (2015), the mental health of children and adolescents is largely influenced by their interpersonal interactions, family, and social life. A child’s family interactions and environment represents the largest contributor to childhood behavioral problems (Haine-Schlagel & Walsh, 2015). Because of this, Haine-Schlagel and Walsh (2015) discuss the importance of incorporating family, if possible, into the child’s psychiatric treatment. This can be accomplished through family therapy, or having educational sessions with the parents to discuss communication strategies, discipline strategies, and other helpful tactics. Per Haine-Schlagel and Walsh (2015), parental participation is often difficult related to feelings of “blame” or difficulty with understanding the therapeutic point of view (pg. 135). However, is is suggested that parental involvement is an evidence-based treatment modality– promoting child and adolescent treatment outcomes for a variety of disparities, including depression, defiant disorders, eating disorders, disruptive disorders, and childhood anxiety disorders.

References

Bellman, M., Byrne, O., & Sege, R. (2013). Developmental Assessment of Children. British Journal of Medicine, 346(21), 31-35. Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

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. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4433419/.

Heard Alliance. (2011). HEADSSS Assessment: Risk and Protective Factors. Retrieved from http://www.heardalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/HEADSS.pdf

NIMH. (2019). Children and Mental Health: Is This Just a Stage? Retrieved from National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/children-and-mental-health/index.shtml

NSW Department of Health. (2015). Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Retrieved from http://www.thereachinstitute.org/images/CGAS.pdf

NYU Langone Health. (2019). Types of Developmental Delays in Children. Retrieved from Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Lagone: https://nyulangone.org/conditions/developmental-delays-in-children/types

Shogren, K. A., Seo, H., Wehmeyer, M. L., Palmer, S. B., Thompson, J. R., Hughes, C., & Little, T. D. (2015). Support Needs of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Age-Related Implications for Assessment. Psychology in the Schools, 52(9), 874-891. Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
Assessment in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.