 About the Campaign
Staff
Member Organizations
News
Roadmap
Press Room
Contact the Campaign
Report of the Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
Support the Campaign |
Early Detection of Mental Health Problems
in Children and
Adolescents
-
Mental health problems in children and adolescents are real,
and are distinguishable from normal adolescent behavior and development.
-
Most of the symptoms and distress associated with childhood
and adolescent mental health problems can be alleviated with timely and
appropriate
mental health treatment and supports.
-
Detecting mental health problems early on is as appropriate
as detecting hearing or vision problems. Just as pediatricians and other
primary
care
physicians have an important role to play in assessing children's development
and emotional health as a regular part of their check-ups, our schools
have a role to play in detecting problems that interfere with learning
and development.
-
Emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents
that go undetected and untreated frequently persist, often leading
to school failure,
poor
employment opportunities, and poverty in adulthood. Early detection
efforts enable health professionals to look for signs of emotional or behavioral
problems at a stage at which intervention can prevent the problems
from
worsening.
-
It is appropriate to screen schoolchildren for signs of significant
mental health problems by way of standardized checklists and behavioral
observation; such efforts to detect potential problems do NOT produce
a diagnosis. Rather,
they are a means of identifying, and alerting parents to, any signs
of a problem that might interfere with a child's learning and development,
and
allowing the parents to consider whether to have the child undergo
an
assessment by a physician or psychologist.
-
Any community initiating a school-based early-detection program
should address such issues as (a) the scope of the program, (b) the
professional qualifications of those individuals conducting the program,
(c) procedures
for notifying parents of the school's plans, (d) procedures for obtaining
prior informed parental consent for any formal assessment and treatment
recommended after initial detection of possible problems, (e) mechanisms
to link families
to treatment resources, as needed and desired, and (f) procedures for
assuring confidentiality regarding each phase of the process.
|
 |
 |
