Diagnosis and therapy in child and adolescent psychiatry

Abstract EN

This paper reviews the diagnostic process and several treatment modalities in child and adolescent psychiatry.

It discusses several sources of information and diagnostic tools used in the diagnostic process in child psychiatry like the clinical interview with the child and his/her parents; behavior rating scales completed by parents, teacher, or significant others; physical and neurological examination; psychoeducational; psycholinguistic and clinical laboratory studies.

It covers the diagnostic classification systems used, I.e., categorical dimensional diagnostic systems.

It reviews the background of the diagnostic classification systems used.

Finally, it selectively reviews three treatment modalities utilized in child psychiatry, I.e., individual psychotherapy, behavior therapy, and pharmacotherapy.

These modalities were chosen because in the opinion of the authors they have been proven to be effective in the treatment of several child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.

In conclusion, research and clinical experience suggests that utilizing a multiple modality treatment is emerging as a preferred approach