68.1 ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS

Abstract

Disruptive behavior plays a central role in developmental sequences of psychopathology. It is antecedent to up to 60% of common mental disorders across the life span, often emerges in early childhood, and is the most prevalent disorder of the preschool period with estimates between 9% and 15%. This presentation suggests use of a multidimensional, multisession, developmental framework for early childhood assessment of disruptive behavior. It addresses key challenges in distinguishing developmentally normative from atypical behaviors, categorical vs dimensional models of childhood psychopathology, and psychosocial moderators and mediators of disruptive behavior. A summary of practice guidelines on mental health assessment of the young child will be reviewed. It will highlight the intricacies and skill needed to complete a thorough evaluation. Use of stop-and-think questions, vignettes, visuals, real-life cases, and video clips will engage the audience in the presentation. Integrating the body of evidence that links environmental, physiologic, genetic, and relational contributions to individual differences can determine significant self-control problems, suggest underlying cause, and can guide the use of targeted interventions. An understanding of this information provides practical strategies for successful assessments in most mental health outpatient settings. Problematic levels of disruptive behavior, especially when accompanied by functional impairment and distress of the child and/or primary caregiver, should be identified early using a systematic developmentally informed mental health examination including standardized measures, collateral resources, and multiple sessions to improve outcome trajectories.