Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults - Essay Sample

Introduction

Why the developmental assessment of children and adolescents is important? Several reasons underpin the significance of developmental assessment of both adolescents and children. The practitioners' vital role significantly contributes to monitoring children's growth and development, besides identifying challenges upfront (CDC, 2020). These population assessments are crucial since they help practitioners identify any developmental issues, paving the way for their speedy intervention by providing family intervention options.

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Assessment Instruments

The two assessment instruments used for children and adolescents are Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) and Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA). CAPA entails various versions and is utilized in 9-17-year-old children (Sadock, 2014). CAPA assessment examines all symptoms that precede three months. Thus, it has established use in research and clinical settings. Conversely, practitioners use DICA for children in the range of 6-17 years old to assess disorders in substance abuse, depression, behavior, and anxiety (Sadock, 2014).

These tools are exclusively used in children and adolescents, not adults since they provide a direct or interview approach not demanded in these populations for specifics.

Two Treatment Options

To prevent dysfunctional parenting, a positive parenting program helps caregivers and parents with 0-8-year-old children (Social Programs, 2018). It achieves the latter objectives by supporting parents in fortifying skills in parenting. Ultimately, it helps prevent their children from developing behavioral and developmental issues as well as emotive and child maltreatment issues (Social Programs, 2018). Secondly, to enlighten parents on novel skills besides improving the existing ones in a child's behavior management, behavior therapy known as parental training or education comes into play. The training period depends on the child's behavior severity and may occur in groups or with distinct families.

The Role Parents Play In Assessment and Treatment

In the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents, the role of parents is essential. For instance, when seeing a child for a follow monthly period, my preceptor and I often commence our conversation with the mother. After obtaining the caregivers' report, we then talk to the child. These two helps us get acquainted with vital information that may not be apparent to us (Thapar et al., 2015). As future practitioners, we are obligated to be conscious of various diagnostic tools at our reach and their implementation into practice. Parents or caregivers' report proves to be a good starting point for each appointment.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (April 2020). Child Development. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov//ncbbddd/chillddevelopment/scrreening-hccp.httml.

Sadock, B. J., J. Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock's synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA; Wolters Kluwer.

Social Programs That Work. (January 2018). The Triple P System. Retrieved from https://-eviidencebasedprograms.org/programs/the-triiple-p-system/.

Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leeckman, J. F., Scott, S. Snowlling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter's child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NH: Willey Blackwell.