This book provides a clinical guide to the psychiatric assessment of infants and young children, birth through five years, and their families. It offers a comprehensive, data-rich framework for conducting mental health assessments of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The book includes a step-by-step guide for evaluation and assessment, reviewing relevant literature and best practices for working with very young children. It begins with an overview of the purpose and principles of psychiatric assessment and offers a protocol for planning and executing a thorough evaluation. Chapters examine critical aspects of the assessment process, including children’s relationships with parents/caregivers, assessment of parents, cultural considerations, and play behaviors. Chapters also provide illustrative case vignettes and information on specialized tools that can be adapted for use in a private office or training clinic. Topics featured in this book include: Play-based assessment models for accessing the inner world of young children. The effect of caregivers and their reflective functioning on the mental health of young children. The use of adult-report rating scales in the clinical assessment of young children. Psychopharmacologic considerations in early childhood. The Clinical Guide to Psychiatric Assessment of Infants and Young Children is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians, and related professionals, and graduate students in infancy and early childhood development, pediatrics, social work, psychiatry, and public health. “The volume is both highly practical and up to date, impressively bridging the gap between science and practice. The book is an invaluable guide for students and trainees and an important reference for seasoned clinicians.” David Oppenheim, Ph.D., University of Haifa “The book integrates relational, developmental and social-emotional health dimensions within each chapter, reviewing subjective and objective measures in a range of domains. The book is clear and user-friendly. I wholeheartedly recommend it!” Daniel S. Schechter, M.D., New York University School of Medicine “This important new volume provides multiple perspectives on the entire range of assessment methods and procedures used in early childhood mental health. This is a vital read for students and practitioners.” Charles H. Zeanah, M.D., Tulane University

This book provides full guidance on common developmental disorders and their assessment, focusing on mild to moderate disabilities in the school-aged child. Each chapter includes an account of normal development, including developmental milestones, an overview of the disorder, and its clinical assessment.

This book presents an integrated and coordinated framework for assessing developmental, psychological, and behavioral disorders in early childhood. Expert contributors advocate for natural-environment methods in addition to standardized measures in assessing academic and social skills as well as age-specific behavior problems in young children. Chapters model collaborations between clinicians, family, and daycare and school personnel, address diagnostic and classification issues, and conceptualize assessment as flexible, ongoing, and, as necessary, leading to coordinated services. The book gives practitioners and researchers critical tools toward establishing best practices in an increasingly complex and important area, leading to better prevention and intervention outcomes. Included in the coverage: Standardized assessment of cognitive development. Authentic and performance-based assessment. The use of Response to Interve ntion (RTI) in early childhood. Collaboration in school and child care settings. Anxiety disorders, PTSD, OCD, and depression in young children. Sleeping, feeding/eating, and attachment problems in early childhood. Early Childhood Assessment in School and Clinical Child Psychology is an essential resource for clinicians and related professionals, researchers, and graduate students in child and school psychology; assessment, testing, and evaluation; occupational therapy; family studies, educational psychology; and speech pathology.

The Handbook of Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Mental Health Assessment brings together, for the first time, leading clinical researchers to provide empirically based recommendations for assessment of social-emotional and behavior problems and disorders in the earliest years. Each author presents state-of-the-art information on scientifically valid, developmentally based clinical assessments and makes recommendations based on the integration of developmental theory, empirical findings, and clinical experience. Though the field of mental health assessment in infants and young children lags behind work with older children and adults, recent scientific advances, including new measures and diagnostic approaches, have led to dramatic growth in the field. The editors of this exciting new work have assembled an extraordinary collection of chapters that thoroughly discuss the conceptualizations of dysfunction in infants and young children, current and new diagnostic criteria, and such specific disorders as sensory modulation dysfunction, sleep disorders, eating and feeding disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. Chapters further highlight the importance of incorporating contextual factors such as parent-child relationship functioning and cultural background into the assessment process to increase the validity of findings. Given the comprehensiveness of this groundbreaking volume in reviewing conceptual, methodological, and research advances on early identification, diagnosis, and clinical assessment of disorders in this young age group, it will be an ideal resource for teachers, researchers, and a wide variety clinicians including child psychologists, child psychiatrists, early intervention providers, early special educators, social workers, family physicians, and pediatricians.

Widely regarded as the standard reference in the field, this state-of-the-art handbook offers a comprehensive analysis of developmental, clinical, and social aspects of mental health from birth to the preschool years. Leading authorities explore models of development; biological, family, and sociocultural risk and protective factors; and frequently encountered disorders and disabilities. Evidence-based approaches to assessment and treatment are presented, with an emphasis on ways to support strong parent–child relationships. The volume reviews the well-documented benefits of early intervention and prevention and describes applications in mental health, primary care, childcare, and child welfare settings. The chapter on psychopharmacology has been updated for the paperback edition.

This book explains the psychological assessment process and reviews the origins of psychological testing, referral and testing processes, and prominent psychological assessment instruments. Most important, this book details how to evaluate testing data and use them to understand an individual’s needs and to inform interventions and treatments. This book addresses specific domains of psychological assessment, including: · Intelligence and academic achievement. · Speech-language and visual-motor abilities. · Memory, attention/concentration, and executive functioning. · Behavioral and social-emotional functioning. · Developmental status. Practical Guide to Child and Adolescent Psychological Testing is an essential resource for clinicians, primary care providers, and other practitioners as well as researchers, professors, and graduate students in the fields of child, school, and developmental psychology, pediatrics and social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, primary care medicine, and related disciplines.