Adolescent Health

Question 1

What is adolescence?

Answer 1

11-25
Period of rapid and significant changes in and developments in social/emotional and brain
Period of establishing independence from parents and developing self-identify

Question 2

What are emotions different in adolescents?

Answer 2

Growing ability to regulate emotions - in early adolescence having spontaneous outbursts & greater reliance on amygdala

Increase in connections between amygdala & other brain areas in adolescence

Question 3

How many adolescents have mental health disorders?

Answer 3

10-20%

Question 4

Brain continues to develop until when?

Answer 4

20s

Question 5

What is the area of most radical change in adolescence?

Answer 5

Prefrontal cortex (responsible for high level cognitive function and characteristic adult behaviours/abilities)

Question 6

Why is chronic disease control worse in adolescence?

Answer 6

Different priorities
Different ability to process long term outcomes
Both chronic dx and adolescence are emotional journeys
More into concrete as opposed to abstract thinking

Question 7

What is a good mnemonic for remembering the important things to ask about in an adolescent history?

Answer 7

HEADSS
Home - who lives with them, where they live, do they get on with them?
Education/employment
Activities
Drugs/alcohol
Sexuality 
Suicide/self harm

Question 8

At what age do adolescents move to adult services?

Answer 8

16y

Question 9

How can we best move adolescents to adult services?

Answer 9

Transition them Ready, steady go
Begin early (11-12y)
Ensure good understanding of condition/meds
Initial joint appointments (paeds and adult teams)
Checklists/toolkits