Around the world, a vast number of children and adolescents suffer from mental and neurological disorders and only a small proportion of them receive adequate care. This is so in both developing and developed countries. The need to raise awareness about this problem and provide specific advice regarding their prevention and treatment was identified as a priority for the World Psychiatric Association by Professor Ahmed Okasha during his Presidency of the Association and resulted in the creation of his Presidential Programme on Child Mental Health. This book presents some of the fruits of this programme and constitutes a global call to action for mental health workers and policy makers. The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: An area of global neglect brings together information on the burden of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence with methods of raising public awareness of these problems. The book also describes therapeutic and preventive interventions that could diminish them. It then presents the results of field studies in Brazil, Egypt and Russia documenting the effectiveness of interventions to prevent school dropout in those three very different countries. With its emphasis on practical guidance for the development of interventions to prevent or treat child and adolescent mental health, The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: An area of global neglect provides much-needed information of direct interest to health professionals and the many others involved in the provision of health care to children and adolescents in both the developing and the developed countries.

"Recognizing the importance of mental health literacy in child and youth care practice, Introduction to Mental Health for Child and Youth Care features mental health content that is relevant and applicable to practitioners. The text is designed to meet the professional practice needs of child and youth care practitioners to participate fully in integrated mental health teams; to knowledgeably advocate for children, youth, and their families for accessible and quality care; and to understand mental health from different perspectives, including Indigenous wellness, attachment theory, resilience and trauma-informed care, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Topics include the practitioner's role in mental health care of children and youth; Indigenous' perspectives on mental wellness; epidemiology of mental disorders; stigma; interventions such as evidence-based treatments and complimentary approaches; theories of resilience, attachment, and trauma; and suicide, which is a leading cause of death for young people worldwide and closely linked to mental disorders. Additionally, several chapters are dedicated to disorders relevant to children and youth that practitioners are likely to encounter in practice, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, feeding and eating disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, and autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities."--

Understanding Mental Health Problems of Children and Adolescents is a practical guide to identifying, diagnosing, and treating mental health and substance abuse challenges in children and adolescents. In the book, Kirstin Painter and Maria Scannapieco take on ADHD, childhood trauma, anxiety disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, bipolar disorder, the spectrum of schizophrenia, psychosis, and substance abuse. For each of these, they provide definitions as well as early signs of detection, symptoms, diagnoses, and even treatment options. In doing this, they emphasize the importance of working with youth and caregivers and why social workers should address mental health issues like these using a strengths- and trauma-informed perspective. Painter and Scannapieco break each diagnosis into two chapters to ensure they give adequate coverage for each diagnosis. The first chapter for each discusses and includes the DSM criteria, the biological aspects of the disorder, differential diagnosing, and a case study applying the diagnostic criteria. The second presents evidence-based treatments and medications and follows-up the preceding case study with a discussion of the outcomes. This new edition includes discussions of the 21st Century Cures Act, cultural humility, techniques for intervention with youth, childhood trauma, and more. The final chapters discuss the importance of collaboration between schools, mental health providers, child protective services, and families. Promoting positive mental health in youth from a system of care perspective, readers will learn about the mental health issues facing children and adolescents as well as the relevant definitions, etiology, and evidence-based treatments to ensure they can gather enough information to make a proper diagnoses.

With rapidly rising rates of mental health disorders, changing patterns of occurrence, and increasing levels of morbidity, the need for a better understanding of the developmental origins and influence of mental health on children’s behavioral health outcomes has become critical. This need for better understanding extends to both the growing prevalence of mental health disorders as well as the role and impact of neurodevelopmental pathways in their onset and expression. Addressing these changes in disease patterns and effects on children and families will require a multifaceted approach that goes beyond simply making changes to clinical care or adding personnel to the health services system. New policies, financing, and implementation can put established best practices and numerous research findings from around the country into action. The Maternal and Child Health Life Course Intervention Research Network and the Forum for Children's Well-Being at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine jointly organized a webinar series to explore how mental health disorders develop over the life course, with a special emphasis on prenatal, early, middle, and later childhood development. This series centered on identifying gaps in our knowledge, exploring possible new strategies for using existing data to enhance understanding of the developmental origins of mental disorders, reviewing potential approaches to prevention and optimization, and proposing new ways of framing how to understand, address, and prevent these disorders from a life course development perspective. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the series.

Healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) development is a critical foundation for a productive adulthood. Much is known about strategies to support families and communities in strengthening the MEB development of children and youth, by promoting healthy development and also by preventing and mitigating disorder, so that young people reach adulthood ready to thrive and contribute to society. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has significantly strengthened understanding of healthy MEB development and the factors that influence it, as well as how it can be fostered. Yet, the United States has not taken full advantage of this growing knowledge base. Ten years later, the nation still is not effectively mitigating risks for poor MEB health outcomes; these risks remain prevalent, and available data show no significant reductions in their prevalence. Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda examines the gap between current research and achievable national goals for the next ten years. This report identifies the complexities of childhood influences and highlights the need for a tailored approach when implementing new policies and practices. This report provides a framework for a cohesive, multidisciplinary national approach to improving MEB health.

Over the past decade, providers, policy makers, and stakeholders across a range of disciplines have taken various approaches to addressing the rising incidence of mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health concerns in children and adults. With the recent opioid crisis affecting young people and families across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level, and thus adding to the national concern, new efforts and interventions have emerged. However, an overarching system is lacking for the collection of data on these efforts and their efficacy. A strong system for evaluating programs and distributing information could create more opportunities to improve efforts and reduce inefficiencies across programs. Additionally, through engagement of an array of stakeholders from all sectors involved with youth and families, more possibilities for solutions can be realized. To bring together some of these relevant stakeholders and to highlight some of these potential solutions, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop in October 2019. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health has been designed to help the student and newly qualified health care professional to familiarise themselves with the key theoretical frameworks underpinning the field of children and young people's mental health. It explores the mental health challenges that children and young people face, and how we as adults can work alongside them to help them face and overcome such challenges. This book provides comprehensive information on the theory and practice of particular mental health difficulties which children and young people may have to face, including self-harm, depression, suicide, child abuse, eating disorders, substance misuse, and early onset psychosis. Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health is essential reading for pre-registration students in nursing and healthcare on child and mental health branches, and for newly qualified nursing, health and social care practitioners who work with children and young people. Brings together specialist practitioners and academics in the field Incorporates the latest guidelines and policies Practical and accessible in style with learning outcomes, activities, examples and recommended reading in each chapter

Child and Adolescent Mental Health is an introductory handbook ideal for any professional working with children, adolescents and their families in the field of child and adolescent mental health. It balances clear theoretical explanation with illustrative case histories to give the text a distinct practical focus. The book covers all the core aspects of child and adolescent mental health, starting with the background to emotional and behavioural problems, looking at models and tools for assessment and treatment before examining the specific problems encountered in young children, older children and adolescents.