Depression in School-Aged Children: Assessment and Early Intervention

Abstract

A careful assessment of all of these factors will help nurse therapists who are also primary care providers develop a more holistic approach to treatment and, thus, increase treatment effectiveness. The three-pronged assessment approach discussed above is cost effective, safe, and indicated as a frontline measure to assess the risk for depression in children and their parents (particularly mothers), which can begin the process of "true" early intervention. I say "true" early intervention because in my role as an early intervention specialist, my first meeting with families usually occurs after a crucial incident requiring hospitalization of the child or the parent, or school failure, or both. My programs of intervention are hardly "early," although treatment is started relatively early in the life of the child. In the past few years, I have noticed that psychiatric-mental health advanced practice nurses, including myself, are increasingly working in some capacity in primary health centers, such as school-based clinics, churches, collaborative practices, and community health centers. It would be wonderful if we used these settings to identify risk for depression in children and begin preventive treatment (starting with teaching good sleep hygiene, a treatment in itself) to truly make early intervention a reality.