3- Child and adolescent psychiatry Flashcards
what is childhood and adolescent psychiatry
What is it?
- Disorders which are usually identified in childhood and adolescence or are specific to that developmental period
- Usually multifactorial
categorisation of childhoold and adolescent psychiatry
- behavioural
- neurodevelopmental
- emotional
aetiology of childhoold and adolescent psychiatry
Very multifactorial and cumulative. Factors are precipitating and perpetuating
Significant influences
- Parents and family
o Type of parenting/family structure
- School
o Academic success/ failure
o Friendships
o Bullying
- Culture
RF for childhood psychiatric disorders: Biological
o Temperament
o Genetic
o Neurodevelopmental
o Biochemical
RF for childhood psychiatric disorders: developmental/psychological
o Attachment (very important)
o Learning
o Cognitive
o Emotional
RF for childhood psychiatric disorders: social/environmental
o Acute stressors
Trauma
Accident
Illness
Death
o Chronic adversity
Socio-economic
Parental mental illness
Parental loss
Family conflict- violent
Parenting
Abuse (phys sexu, emotional)
Exposure to community violence
protective factors
- Temperament
- Coping strategy
- Problem solving
- Self esteem
- Stability
- Secure relationships and friendship
- Achievement
How childhood can be divided
- Under 5s
- Childhood
- Adolescence >12 years
Child mental health services
- Health services
o Specialist services
o Universal services - Local authority
o School based services
o Community based services - Voluntary sector
- Services often changing
Emotional disorders of childhood and adolescence
- GAD
- Separation anxiety disorder
- Phobic disorders
- OCD
- PTSD
- Depression
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD)
refer to conditions that have an onset in the developmental period and lead to impairment of important brain functions such as memory, emotion, learning, self-control, and social interaction. These conditions often co-exist (or associate with) a known medical condition (e.g. epilepsy), genetic condition (e.g. fragile X syndrome), or environmental factor (e.g. perinatal infection or hypoxia).
Examples of neurodevelopmental disorders
- ASD
- ADHD
- ID/LD
- Specific learning disorders
Assessing child mental health
What affects when children present?
- Age
- Frequency
- Severity
- Individual characteristics or temperament
- Impact on others
- Family/social circumstance
Important to assess for:
- Child disorders
- Childs development
o Physical
o Social
o Emotional
o Cognitive
o Moral
- Family relationships
History and observation
- Certain elements have greater relevance
- Present/Hx presenting complaint
- Development Hx
- Family Hx
- Social Hx
- School
Observation
- Observation of the child/child and carers
- Consider these when watching videos
developmental assessment summary
Anxiety disorders in children
- Common presentation in children of all ages with prevalence increasing with increasing age
- Presentation influenced by chronological and developmental age
- Presenting features can be similar to that in adults particular adolescence
- Can be influenced by parents having anxiety and by levels of reassurance
- Many can persist to adulthood especially OCD
separation anxiety in children
- Anxiety manifest upon separation (or threat of separation) from attachment figures (usually parent, particularly mother)
- Somatic manifestations
- Nightmares with separation themes
- School refusal
GAD in children
Generalised anxiety disorder
- Free floating anxiety
- Fears of death, loss (of child or parents)
- Somatic manifestations (more common in children)
- Nausea
- abdominal pain
- sickness
- headaches
- sweating
- palpitations
- tension
- Panic attacks (sudden onset, extreme fear, physical symptoms, faintness
OCD in children
- OBSESSIONAL THOUGHTS – intrusive persisting, awareness of their illogicality, resistance to them (e.g. counting, urge to wash hands or touch wood a certain number of times)
- COMPULSIVE ACTIONS – related to the thoughts
PTSD in children
- Persistently re-experiencing trauma
- Avoidance of associated stimuli or numbing of responsiveness
- Increased arousal
o Sleep disturbance
o Irritability
o Poor concentration
treatment of anxiety disorders in children: biological
o Fluoxetine for children (SSRIs)
treatment of anxiety disorders in children: behavioural
o Systemic desensitisation
o Flooding
o Response prevention
treatment of anxiety disorders in children: psychological
Psychotherapies
Brief psychodynamic
Family
Cognitive therapy
mood disorders in children
- Mood disorders become more common with increasing age
- In children with depressive illness the low mood may not be pervasive (important)
- Assessment of low mood can be difficult
- Main concern often is the risk of self-harm
- In boys can be masked by anger
- Have to consider how it is expressed in younger children
Presentation of depressive disorders in children
- Low mood which is persistent, but not necessarily pervasive
- anhedonia/lower levels of enjoyment
- Biological symptoms are not consistent i.e. appetite/ sleep may not be affected
- Concentration/motivation are generally worse
- Anxiety symptoms
management of depression in children
- Biological
o Antidepressants (SSRIs)
o Managing underlying or comorbid problems - Psychological
o CBT - Behavioural
o CBT
behavioural disorers in children
- This area is quite contentious
- Is it a mental health problem?
- Aetiology can be complex and interact
- Parenting is often cited as the issue but may not be so simple
- The majority of children “grow out” of behavioural problems but a few persist with significant effects.
RF for behavioural disorders
- Lack of boundaries/ inconsistent parenting
- Rejection
- Family conflict esp violence and aggression
- Child abuse
- Child temperament
- Comorbid learning difficulties
types of behavioural disorders
oppositional vs conduct disorders
oppositional disorder
- Uncooperative
o Unwilling to comply with requests
o Frequent temper tantrums - Wilful, defiant
- Aggressive aggression
- Unless managed, tends to escalate