Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents
School and going out with my friends used to be fun, but not anymore. Mom keeps telling me just to go out and have fun, but I don’t see the point of trying. All my friends are better than I am. I keep having these headaches and just feel worthless. I used to get As and Bs in school, but not anymore. I can’t concentrate at school. I would rather be at home sleeping.
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—Madison, age 16
Mood and anxiety disorders can be particularly challenging to address in childhood and adolescence for many reasons. Children may not be able to fully express or understand their feelings and behaviors. Parents may misattribute or not recognize signs and symptoms. The symptoms of disorders also vary when present in children as opposed to adults. The PMHNP needs to know how to diagnose these conditions and must understand the importance of integrating medication management strategies with both individual and family therapy to optimize treatment outcomes.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Explain signs and symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
- Explain the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
- Explain diagnosis and treatment methods for mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
- Develop patient education materials for mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
- Chapter 3, “Common Clinical Concerns”
- Chapter 7, “A Brief Version of DSM-5″
- Chapter 8, “A stepwise approach to Differential Diagnosis”
- Chapter 10, “Selected DSM-5 Assessment Measures”
- Chapter 11, “Rating Scales and Alternative Diagnostic Systems”
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Wiley Blackwell.
- Chapter 60, “Anxiety Disorders”
- Chapter 61, “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”
- Chapter 62, “Bipolar Disorder in Childhood”
- Chapter 63, “Depressive Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence”
Required Media (click to expand/reduce)
Medication Review
Review the FDA-approved use of the following medicines related to treating mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.
| Bipolar depression | Bipolar disorder |
| lurasidone (age 10–17) olanzapine-fluoxetine combination (age 10–17) |
aripiprazole (age 10–17) asenapine (for mania or mixed episodes, age 10–17) lithium (for mania, age 12–17) olanzapine (age 13–17) |
| Generalized anxiety disorder | Depression |
| duloxetine (age 7–17) | escitalopram (age 12–17) fluoxetine (age 8–17) |
| Obsessive-compulsive disorder |
| clomipramine (age 10–17) fluoxetine (age 7–17) fluvoxamine (age 8–17) sertraline (age 6–17) |
Assignment: Patient Education for Children and Adolescents
Patient education is an effective tool in supporting compliance and treatment for a diagnosis. It is important to consider effective ways to educate patients and their families about a diagnosis—such as coaching, brochures, or videos—and to recognize that the efficacy of any materials may differ based on the needs and learning preferences of a particular patient. Because patients or their families may be overwhelmed with a new diagnosis, it is important that materials provided by the practitioner clearly outline the information that patients need to know.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
For this Assignment, you will pretend that you are a contributing writer to a health blog. You are tasked with explaining important information about an assigned mental health disorder in language appropriate for child/adolescent patients and/or their caregivers.
To Prepare
- By Day 1, your Instructor will assign a mood or anxiety disorder diagnosis for you to use for this Assignment.
- Research signs and symptoms for your diagnosis, pharmacological treatments, nonpharmacological treatments, and appropriate community resources and referrals.
The Assignment
In a 300- to 500-word blog post written for a patient and/or caregiver audience, explain signs and symptoms for your diagnosis, pharmacological treatments, nonpharmacological treatments, and appropriate community resources and referrals.
Although you are not required to respond to colleagues, collegial discussion is welcome.
By Day 7 of Week 5
Submit your Assignment.
Submission and Grading Information
To complete your Blog for review and grading, do the following:
- Click the Week 5 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
- Click the Week 5 Assignment link.
- Next, click Create Blog Entry Link.
- In the title box, enter the title of the Blog Entry. Please title it: WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.
- In the Entry Message box, type your Blog Entry or click Browse My Computer and select the document you saved as “WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
- Click Post Entry.
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 5 Assignment Rubric
Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 5