Psychoses in children and adolescents: a review

The differential diagnosis of psychoses in children and adolescents encompasses a wide range of disorders. The interpretation of psychotic symptoms in these patients must consider age, developmental level, symptomatology, and etiology for an appropriate DSM-IV diagnosis. Previous classifications of psychoses provided little information about the underlying processes or possible treatment. Clinical experience suggests that psychotic manifestations in young patients are influenced by developmental stage and that eliciting target symptoms from a young patient necessitates using and understanding the youth's language. Proper patient assessment demands interviews with family and collaborative sources, as well as endocrine, metabolic, neurologic, infectious, and toxicologic laboratory evaluations. Treatment involves interventions aimed at all spheres of life. The prognosis and outcome are generally poor in early-onset psychoses and are complicated by comorbidities.