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Screening Methods and When to Use Them

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Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Mental Health and Illness Worldwide ((MHIW))

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Abstract

In terms of child and adolescent mental health, screening can be conceptualized as identifying those young people who are at high risk of having a psychiatric disorder, due to having risk factors for the development of a disorder, and/or already having raised levels of psychopathology or experiencing psychiatric symptoms. The intention of screening should be to improve outcomes via prevention or early intervention. In child and adolescent psychiatry, there is often a significant window of time in which risk factors or early symptoms can be detected prior to the diagnosis of a full psychiatric disorder, making them suitable for screening.

Screening tools used in psychiatry are usually questionnaires or measures which have a threshold for determining whether or not a child is “screen-positive.” These tools can be used on an opportunistic basis or as part of a systematic program of targeted or universal screening – for example, in young offenders or school pupils. Those screening positive can then be referred for more comprehensive assessment.

However, no screening measures are completely accurate. Therefore, before deciding to use a tool in practice, it is important to consider whether it is validated for that population, the potential harms and benefits, and the impact of a false-negative or false-positive result. Finally, the decision to screen should also be influenced by how the result will inform management. It is potentially unethical to identify young people who may need further assessments and intervention, if the availability and/or effectiveness of these is limited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Tamsin Newlove-Delgado

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Tamsin J. Ford

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  1. Tamsin Newlove-Delgado
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  2. Tamsin J. Ford
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Correspondence to Tamsin Newlove-Delgado .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

  2. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F. C. Verhulst

  3. National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    John Wong

  4. Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    Keiko Yoshida

  5. King's College London, London, UK

    Anula Nikapota

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F Verhulst

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Newlove-Delgado, T., Ford, T.J. (2020). Screening Methods and When to Use Them. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_7-1

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