Assessment & screening
Spotting OCD in Pediatric Patients
“Even among skilled clinicians, misconceptions about obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD can delay diagnosis and treatment,” explains Carla E. Marin, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine. With common sayings like “we’re all a little OCD” and representations of OCD that center on germs and handwashing, getting a clear picture of…
Read MoreADHD and Racial Disparities: What Clinicians Can Do
“When a parent of color raises concerns about their child’s behavior, clinicians should always stop to assess for underlying disorders,” explains child and adolescent psychiatrist Brittainy Erby, MD. “I see many children and adolescents of color who have been diagnosed with a behavior disorder, but they actually have untreated ADHD.” The research reinforces what Dr.…
Read MoreUntangling ADHD and Anxiety as Comorbidities
“ADHD and anxiety presenting together is very common in children and adolescents. But it can be difficult to discern which is the primary condition and which to treat first,” explains Kari Overstreet, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, PMHS, a pediatric nurse practitioner focused on child psychiatry and a Patient-Centered Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care (PPP)…
Read MoreHow Autism May Present at Different Ages
“No two kids with autism spectrum disorder are identical. The presentation often depends on the degree of severity and the age of the child,” explains Ruth E.K. Stein, MD, a Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Now recognized as a spectrum disorder, autism may be…
Read MoreDiagnosing Seasonal Affective Disorder
“Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is more than just the winter blues,” explains Maureen Montgomery, MD, a pediatrician based in Buffalo, NY. “It’s a subtype of clinical depression that has very specific characteristics.” As the name suggests, SAD is a seasonal and cyclical type of depression. In most cases, SAD occurs during the fall and…
Read MoreRacism as trauma: A pediatric mental health perspective
After learning about the alarming rise in suicide rates among Black children and adolescents, Brittainy Erby, MD, set out to understand the impact of racial trauma and how to improve pediatric patient care.
Read MoreManaging challenging behaviors in children
“There is a lot of research on programs to help parents manage their children’s behavior. It is not complex for clinicians to learn key evidence-based principles and share them with parents, even in brief office visits,” explains Elena Man, MD, a board-certified pediatrician and faculty member at The REACH Institute. We asked Dr. Man to…
Read MoreResponding to the Alarming Rise of Depression in Adolescent Girls
Gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by adolescent girls and the proactive steps clinicians can take to support them.
Read MoreAssessing and treating substance abuse
“The risk of substance use starts at about age 10,” said Sam Chang, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist on the REACH faculty. “Prevention has to start before that. By the time kids reach adolescence, the horse has left the barn.”
Read MoreIs it ADHD? Or something else?
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common behavioral health disorders, affecting approximately 9% of all children and adolescents. About 75% of pediatric patients with ADHD have comorbid mental health conditions, ranging from oppositional-defiant disorder to anxiety and mood disorders.
What is a busy clinician to do? How do you discern whether a child who is, say, having difficulty focusing at school and at home has ADHD, anxiety, both, or something else?
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