Understanding the Mental Health Problems of Children and Adolescents

This text is a practical guide to informed care for youth mental health. It presents the definition, etiology, steps for diagnosis, and evidence-based treatments for all of the major mental health problems commonly found in children and adolescents. The authors combine systems of care, social ecology, and strengths-based perspectives to create sensitive criteria for diagnoses and treatment plans that can achieve long-lasting improvements.

Each disorder is presented in two chapters. The first chapter discusses the DSM criteria, biological aspects of the disorder, differential diagnosing, and a case study applying the diagnostic criteria. The second chapter presents evidence-based treatments and medications and a discussion of the outcomes of the case study from the preceding chapter. This straightforward approach makes this book highly adaptable for the classroom and beyond.