This Practice Parameter describes the principles of psychodynamic psychotherapy with children and is based on clinical consensus and available research evidence. It presents guidelines for the practice of child psychodynamic psychotherapy, including indications and contraindications, the setting, verbal and interactive (play) techniques, work with…

Research in etiology, neurobiology, genetics, clinical correlates, and evidence-based treatments in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder indicate a need for the revision of the Practice Parameters for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder first published a decade ago. The…

This Parameter addresses the key concepts that differentiate the forensic evaluation of children and adolescents from a clinical assessment. There are ethical issues unique to the forensic evaluation, because the forensic evaluator's duty is to the person, court, or agency requesting the evaluation, rather than to the patient. The forensic…

This Practice Parameter reviews the evidence from research and clinical experience and highlights significant advances in the assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder since the previous Parameter was published in 1998. It highlights the importance of early identification of posttraumatic stress disorder, the importance of…

The establishment of a criterion for operationally defining emergent phenomena in autism is needed. Key initial questions for autism researchers include how to define emergent phenomena in order to better diagnosis the condition.

Washington State Medicaid mandates a second opinion when threshold safety parameters for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are exceeded. This is found to save $1.2 million and saves 538 fewer patients from exceeding safety thresholds.

The criteria for diagnosing depressive disorders fails to place the symptoms of intense sadness in the context of major losses in life, and separating normal sadness from depressive disorder among adolescents is especially difficult. Suggested modifications to the screening of suicidal ideation among adolescents are also presented.

A common diathesis model with precursive patterns of aggression and delinquent behavior from preschool onward is examined whether it anticipates early first drinking (EFD). It was found that EFD and delinquent behavior have a common diathesis that is evident before school entry. It is suggested that interventions should aim at dismantling the…

Wellness and happiness should be considered in the clinical treatment of child and adolescent psychiatry, in addition with thinking about illness. Meanwhile, various studies on child and adolescent psychiatry,which includes an article from the "Journal of Happiness Studies," are discussed.

The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging on a group of pediatric subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder reveals that this group has reduced activity in neural regions underlying emotional processing, cognitive processing, and motor performance as compared to control subjects.

The appropriate and safe use of psychotropic medications in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders is discussed. Best practices principles include completing a psychiatric and medical evaluation, creating a treatment and monitoring plan, and educating the patient and family about the disorder and the treatment.

Several research that examine emotions as a way to diagnose and treat pediatric depression are discussed. The growing research into this field may one day elevate emotion to be included in the standard diagnostic and clinical interview.

The U.S. faces a changing demographic landscape that is increasingly multiracial. The application of a cultural competence model for assessing and treating the psychiatric disorders of minority youths in light of this demographic change is discussed.

Emotional intelligence is found to be a protective factor for suicidal behavior after examining the relations between childhood sexual abuse and suicidal ideation and attempts to emotional intelligence. Childhood sexual abuse is found to be a strong predictive of the results.

Imaging genetics is an experimental strategy that integrates molecular genetics and neuroimaging technology to examine biological mechanisms that mediate differences in behavior and the risks for psychiatric disorder. The basic principles in imaging genetics and the development of the field are discussed.