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Assisting adolescents toward mental health
The Nursing Clinics of North America
|September 1, 1986
Summary
Adolescent adaptive difficulties, once seen as normal, now signal potential mental health issues requiring intervention. Early education and varied psychiatric care levels are crucial for preventing severe psychosocial problems.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
- Mental Health Services
Background:
- Adolescence is a critical developmental period.
- Adaptive difficulties in adolescents were previously normalized.
- These difficulties are now recognized as precursors to significant psychosocial problems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the need for psychiatric intervention in adolescents.
- To emphasize the shift in understanding adolescent adaptive difficulties.
- To discuss the spectrum of care required for adolescent psychiatric patients.
Main Methods:
- Review of the changing perspectives on adolescent adaptive difficulties.
- Categorization of adolescent psychiatric patient presentations (adaptive difficulties vs. diagnosed disorders).
- Discussion of care levels based on dysfunction severity.
Main Results:
- Adolescent adaptive difficulties (delinquency, substance abuse, sexual acting out) require mental health system entry.
- Early detection and prevention are achieved through education.
- Acute care inpatient settings are needed for assessment and crisis intervention.
Conclusions:
- Long-term treatment may be necessary for severely dysfunctional adolescents.
- Further research should explore the link between adolescent adaptive difficulties and adult psychiatric disorders.
- Outcome studies are vital for evaluating psychiatric nursing interventions.