Best Practices for Childhood Disorders: Pharmacological, Psychosocial & Combined Interventions
This continuing education course is based upon the Report of the Working Group on Psychoactive Medications for Children and Adolescents. Psychopharmacological, psychosocial, and combined interventions for childhood disorders: Evidence base, contextual factors, and future directions. It was developed and published by the American Psychological Association (APA). This in-depth paper examines the evidenced based literature and summarizes what is known regarding the treatment of a wide array of childhood disorders.
This report is organized by diagnosis and most of the Axis I diagnoses commonly found in children are reviewed. The report describes the evidenced based literature on psychosocial interventions, pharmacological interventions and combination therapies for each disorder. In addition, diversity issues and risk-benefit analysis for the various treatment options are discussed in detail for each disorder.
Interventions for Childhood Disorders included in this report are:
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Conduct Disorder
- Tourette’s syndrome and Tic Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Depressive Disorders and Suicidality
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
- Elimination Disorders
According to the APA, “It has been a particularly challenging time for mental health care providers and caregivers as they struggle in their quest to determine the appropriate treatments for children and adolescents. The volatile nature of developments surrounding various pharmaceuticals, resulting in advisories and black box warnings, has complicated their decision making process. Against this backdrop, the American Psychological Association commissioned this working group and charged it with reviewing the literature and preparing a comprehensive report on the current state of knowledge concerning the effective use, sequencing, and integration of psychotropic medications and psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents. This review includes a comparative examination of the risk–benefit ratio of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments and the range of child and adolescent psychopharmacology, including the appropriateness of medication practice.”
This CE course serves as an excellent resource for psychologists, clinical social workers and other licensed mental health professionals who work with children and adolescents. It helps to build skills in decision making regarding best practices for treatment and intervention for a wide range of childhood disorders as a means to earn CEs.
Psychologists, social workers, nurses, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists can benefit from this course and earn continuing education credits. This course may also be helpful for other practitioners, such as dieticians and nutritionists who may also need a continuing education course in children and adolescent mental health disorders.
This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to learn more about psychopharmacology and psychosocial intervention with mental disorders in children and adolescents. It is also a good resource for professional counselors who need continuing education.
The course content for this CE course can be found on pages 35 – 170 of the source document and in the updated dosage recommendation article at the end.
Authors: American Psychological Association (APA)
Learning Objectives: This course will provide a professional with detailed information about interventions for childhood disorders. Specifically, a professional will:
- Identify best practices in psychosocial intervention for a wide variety of childhood disorders.
- Identify best practices in pharmacological intervention for a wide variety of childhood disorders.
- Distinguish risks and benefits for the various treatment approaches to a wide variety of childhood disorders.
- Describe current dosage recommendations for multiple psychoactive medications for adolescents.
Citation: APA Working Group on Psychoactive Medications for Children and Adolescents. (2006). Report of the Working Group on Psychoactive Medications for Children and Adolescents. Psychopharmacological, psychosocial, and combined interventions for childhood disorders: Evidence base, contextual factors, and future directions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Updates from Hirsch, G. (2018). Dosing and Monitoring: Children and Adolescents. Psychopharmacological Bulletin. 2018;48(2):34–92
This course content is based on a publication that has been peer-reviewed, the scientific standard for evaluating academic work. All studies and scientifically derived evidence have limitations that should be considered. If you have any questions about the accuracy or limitations of the content, please contact us at
support@ce-classes.com and we will get back to you.
