IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Chapter

A.11

INTRODUCTIONDIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENTPLANNING IN CHILD AND
ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH
PROBLEMS
Barry Nurcombe

Barry Nurcombe MD
Emeritus Professor of Child& Adolescent Psychiatry, theUniversity of Queensland,
Brisbane, Australia
Grade 8 students taking part in the pilot phase of the Respect4U intervention at asecondary school in Masiphumelele, Cape Town, South Africa (Photo: Julius Oatts)

Conflict of interest: nonereported.

This publication is intended for professionals training or practicing in mental health and not for the general public. The opinions
expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or IACAPAP. This publication seeks todescribe the best treatments and practices based on the scientific evidence available at the time of writing as evaluated by the authorsand may change as a result of new research. Readers need to apply this knowledge to patients in accordance with the guidelines andlaws of their country of practice. Some medications may not be available in some countries and readers should consult the specific drug
information since not all dosages and unwanted effects are mentioned. Organizations, publications and websites are cited or linked toillustrate issues or as a source of further information. This does not mean that authors, the Editor or IACAPAP endorse their content or
recommendations, which should be critically assessed by the reader. Websites may also change or cease to exist.
©IACAPAP 2014. This is an open-access publication under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License. Use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium are allowed without prior permission provided the original work is properly cited andthe use is non-commercial.
Suggested citation: Nurcombe B. Diagnosis and treatment planning in child and adolescent mental health problems. In Rey JM (ed),
IACAPAP e-Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatryand Allied Professions 2014.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The term diagnosis is derived from a Greek word meaning distinguishing,discernment, or deciding. Diagnosis was used by Hippocrates to refer to the process
of medical reasoning. Today, it is applied to both the process and the product ofdecision-making.
Diagnosis has a number of functions, it:•

Allows clinicians to describe cases from a common perspective•

Enables the collection of data for administrative purposes•

Can be used for scientific purposes such as to collect cases of a similar
nature and to expose them to contrasting treatments•

Is the key to treatment planning.

••

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This chapter concerns the formulation of a diagnosis in such a manner as tofacilitate individualized treatment planning.
A mental disorder is a clinically significant pattern of psycho-behaviouralsymptoms and signs associated with current distress or impairment experienced
by the patient or people in the environment or with the risk of future distress or
impairment. The concept of disorder falls short of the scientific validity of disease.
Disorder and disease convey biological disadvantage (Scadding, 1967). Some ofthe disorders described in DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) orICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1992) may be distinctive and categorical;
however, most are likely to be dimensional, with diagnostic ‘cut-off’ points that are
determined arbitrarily or by statistical formulae. This is of particular importancewhen a number of behavioural disturbances coincide and it is debatable whether
polymorphous dimensionality or categorical comorbidity apply. To the extent that
it is dimensional, a disorder is likely to have been determined by a variable mix ofgenetic and temperamental factors with learned adaptive responses (e.g., conductdisorder), whereas a truly categorical disorder is likely to have a biological basis(e.g., Rett syndrome). Not all disorders or syndromes will prove to predominantly
be categorically distinct; and some that appear to be categorically distinct today
will eventually turn out to be heterogeneous.
The clinician combines the distinction of categorical prototypes with aneliciting of the dynamic factors involved in the genesis and perpetuation of thepatient’s condition. This chapter deals with the way a diagnostic formulation canbe framed in such a manner as to assist treatment planning.

THE DIMENSIONS OF DIAGNOSISIt is useful to conceptualise diagnostic formulations in three axes ordimensions (see also Chapter A.10):•

Biopsychosocial•

Developmental and•Temporal.

The biopsychosocial dimension
At any one time, a patient is composed of functions at biological (bottom),psychological and social (top) levels (e.g., molecular, cellular, and organ system

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Diagnosis was used by
Hippocrates to refer to theprocess of medical reasoning.
Today, it is applied to both theprocess and the product ofdecision-making.

Categories versus
dimensions
A categorical diagnosis implies
a clear, qualitative difference
between having and not having
a disorder (e.g., breast cancer)
while a dimensional diagnosis
implies a quantitative difference(e.g., hypertension).
There has been muchdebate about the merits
and shortcomings of either
approach. In practice, acategorical approach todiagnosis is clinically morepracticable (e.g., indicatingneed for treatment).
Nevertheless, most recent
classifications (such as DSM5) try to incorporate both
approaches, for example, by
including ratings of severity
in diagnoses or by defininga ‘spectrum’ (e.g., autism
spectrum disorders). For moredetails see Chapter A.3.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthfunctioning; unconscious and conscious psychological functioning; and familysocial adaptation). Each level emerges from the level below. No level can be
reduced to the level below, although science may seek to find associations between
levels (e.g., between molecular synaptic dysfunction and psychosis).
The physician analyzes the following levels in formulating diagnosis:

1. Physical level•

Peripheral organ symptoms•

The immune system•

The autonomic nervous system•

The sensorimotor systems

2. Psychological level•

Information
processing(orientation,
comprehension, judgement)•

Learning•

Communication•

Attitude to self and others•

Social competence•

Psychological symptoms•

Unconscious conflicts and ego defences

attention,

memory,3. Social level•

Family structure and dynamics•

Social relations•

School and occupational adjustment

The developmental dimension
The clinician evaluates the different systems within the biopsychosocial axis
to determine whether any are abnormally delayed, advanced, or deviant in relation
to what could be expected at the patient’s age. Autism, for example, is associatedwith delayed and deviant development (e.g., in communication, social relations,and verbal reasoning). The developmental dimension is most important in theevaluation of children and adolescents.

The temporal dimension
A human life is like a film: it begins from somewhere, is seen as though ina freeze-frame, and is proceeding to a future. The temporal dimension requires anunderstanding of the following:

Predisposition
What are the physical, psychological or social influences − genetic,
intrauterine, perinatal and early developmental − that predisposed the patient toTreatment planning

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthbe psychologically disturbed at the time of examination. Were there any sourcesof stress, trauma, or deprivation in the formative years?

Precipitation
Is there evidence for a physical or psychosocial stressor that coincided withthe onset of the psychological disturbance and could have pushed the individual
into disequilibrium? Common stressors include physical illness (e.g., hepatitis
causing depression), exposure to psychological trauma or loss, marital discordand separation. Some recent psychological stressors may be recapitulations ofunresolved childhood traumata. Not all current problems are precipitated: some(e.g., autism) have gradually evolved from an earlier predisposing deviation ordelay.

Presentation
It is useful to ask, why now? If a problem has been apparent for sometime, why is the individual or the family presenting for help at this time. Has
an additional stress caused failure in the previously compensated physical or
psychosocial system?

Pattern
The pattern of biopsychosocial symptoms and signs constitutes the current
disturbance (phenomena representing the disorder or disorders identified according
to DSM or ICD). Do the symptoms and signs represent a decompensation or
impending decompensation of inadequate adaptation (with anxiety, somatizationor the discharge of tension), the emergence of more primitive coping mechanisms(e.g., denial, repression, dissociation), the fragmentation of mental functioning(as in psychosis), or the residue of past decompensation (as in chronic conversion
disorder)? Do the symptoms have an unconscious communicative or mimetic(imitative) function (as in some forms of conversion)? If so, what is being
communicated and to whom? Are the symptoms predicated upon actual or
imagined physical illness? If so, does the patient obtain secondary gain from theillness?

Perpetuation
Many psychological problems are short-lived; the precipitating stressdissipates or is coped with, sometimes with enhanced functioning. But what ofproblems that do not abate? What keeps them going? Does the precipitating factor
persist in such a way as to perpetuate the disequilibrium? Do pathological coping
mechanisms cause further stresses that keep the problem alive? An understandingof precipitation and perpetuation is essential to treatment planning.

Prognosis
What do you predict will be the outcome, with or without treatment? Does
the condition warrant treatment or is it likely to abate spontaneously?

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Potentials
Do not focus solely on problems and defects. What biopsychosocial
assets does the patient have? Physical beauty, physical strength, artistic ability,
sporting talent, social skill, mechanical ability, for example, can all be harnessed tocompensate for defects or problems, in a comprehensive treatment plan.
The diagnostic formulation can be derived from a combination ofbiopsychosocial, temporal and developmental axes in a matrix, as illustrated in
Figure A.11.1.
The biopsychosocial diagnosis (Nurcombe & Gallagher, 1986) helps theclinician to identify the foci of a treatment plan, the pivots around which treatment
is designed. Other diagnostic systems (e.g., Amchin 1991; Faulkner et al. 1985;
Leigh & Reiser 1993; Perry et al, 1987; Shapiro 1989; Sperry 1992; Sperry et
al, 1992) have been proposed but only Shapiro (1989) gives adequate weight topsychodynamic, developmental, educational and family factors.
Figure A.11.1 Integrating the data as a diagnostic formulation: the diagnostic matrix
Predisposition

Precipitation

Pattern

Perpetuation

Potential

Physical
Psychological
Family/Social

Children performing at the opening ceremony of the 2010 IACAPAP World Congress in Beijing

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CASE EXAMPLE: THE DIAGNOSTIC FORMULATION
Janet, aged 17 years, is the first-born child of divorced parents. She
has one brother (aged 10 years) and a half-brother (aged 2 years) born toher father’s second wife. Janet has been referred by her family practitioner
who is concerned about her depression, suicidal ideation, and self-cutting
following date-rape 18 months before. Janet had only recently revealed therape to her doctor. She did not wish to complain of it to her mother or thepolice. Her doctor wondered if she had posttraumatic stress disorder.
Janet presents as an attractive, stylishly-dressed young woman who
relates well to the examiner, appearing mature for her years. She weeps
briefly when she explains what happened to her 18 months before. The
house was empty because her mother and brother were visiting a relative.
Janet brought home a casual male school friend who overpowered her andhad forcible sexual intercourse with her. Afterwards, Janet felt outraged,
guilty, and “out of touch” with the world and her body. She did not tell her
mother or the police because she was aware of how foolish she had been. In
fact, she had been having sexual intercourse with a number of boys, not outof love (“I’m too young for love”) but because she wanted to feel someone
close to her. Asked to reflect upon why she wanted someone close to her,
she told the following story.
About three years before, her father, a teacher, was away from home,attending an educational course in another city. One day, he telephoned
his wife to say that he had fallen in love with another woman and wanted a
divorce. He did not return home. Janet’s mother, a realtor, was devastated.
Janet supported her and assumed much of the mothering of her younger
brother.
After her parents divorced two years before, Janet began to visit
her father, her stepmother, and her baby half-brother. However, her father
whom she had previously adored (“I was Daddy’s girl”) was critical of her,complaining that she had gained a little weight (five pounds) after she
stopped dancing following an ankle injury. He and she quarrelled. He told
her she was ungrateful and disrespectful. Her stepmother supported herfather. Janet stopped visiting her father about twelve months before, andhad not spoken to him since.
Janet complained of depressive feelings without insomnia or changeof appetite. She had vague thoughts of suicide. Sometimes she felt “outof touch” with her body and the world around. From time to time she cut
her upper thighs with a razor blade in order to relieve a feeling of emotional“deadness”.
Janet’s mother knew nothing of the date rape, and the clinician did not
speak of it to her. She said that her daughter had become depressed andirritable since the divorce. She, herself, had been treated for depression in
the aftermath of the separation, but she had recovered and was now working
full-time. She was estranged from her ex-husband and did not communicate
with him.
There is no family history of mental disorder, learning problems,or antisocial behaviour. Janet’s mother said that her pregnancy with,and delivery of, Janet were normal. Janet was a wanted child whose
developmental milestones were advanced. She was close to both parents,

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthbut particularly to her father whom she idolized. She had always been “asecond mother” to her younger brother. She had had no significant medical
illnesses, surgery or accidents. A bright child, she had always been a goodscholar. She planned to go to college.
Diagnostic formulation
Janet is a 17-year-old Caucasian adolescent female from a middleclass background, the oldest of three siblings. Her early life was uneventful
and she grew up a bright, sociable child very close to her adored father.
This close bond to the father predisposed her to a depressive disorderprecipitated by the unexpected abandonment of his family by her father.
In the aftermath, she supported her depressed mother and mothered herbrother. However, she fell out with her father who, possibly because of his
own guilt, became critical of her. She became estranged from him when she
felt displaced in his affections by her two-year-old half-brother. Searchingfor emotional relief, she became sexually promiscuous. The rape occurred inthis context. Her depressive symptomatology then became complicated by
guilt, self-hatred, depersonalization, vague suicidal ideation, and self-cutting(to relieve emotional unresponsiveness). Her current psychiatric condition isperpetuated by the loss of her father, and her failure to communicate with herparents about her predicament. With appropriate treatment, the prognosis isgood. Without treatment, her depression is likely to become chronic and her
adult emotional relationships empty, unfulfilling, and conflictual. However
she has many strengths, particularly intelligence, social skills, and artistic
ability (ballet).
In summary, Janet has a mild depressive disorder. She does not have
posttraumatic stress disorder (lacks flashbacks, nightmares, or autonomic
hyperarousal), but she suffered an acute stress disorder, now attenuated in
the aftermath of date rape, with depersonalization and suicidal ideation. A
goal-directed treatment plan will be designed in the next section.

MODELS OF TREATMENT PLANNING
Four styles of treatment planning are used by clinicians. The first is intuitive,
the others are deliberate:

1. Therapy matching
2. Problem orientation
3. Focal inpatient treatment planning
4. Goal-direction

Therapy matchingThis is the natural mode, the pattern-matching technique used by mostclinicians. Given a clinical pattern (e.g., seven-year-old male child; hyperactive,
fidgety, inattentive and impulsive; learning problems; parents coercive and punitive;
intelligence probably at the lower end of the average range) the clinician matches adiagnostic and treatment plan (e.g., intelligence and educational testing; parental
and teacher education; possible remedial education; stimulant medication; possible
behavioural program to facilitate concentration). The child’s progress in treatment
is assessed globally until the family is satisfied that the child has improved, or isdissatisfied and terminates treatment.

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Although therapy matching is rapid, efficient, and natural, it has serious
defects. The absence of specific foci and estimations of the time required to producechange in the foci leads to vagueness and potential “drift”: the therapist is notheld accountable for deciding if the treatment plan is working and for changing
treatment if it is not. When a clinical team is involved in providing treatment,
as in an inpatient setting, it may become uncoordinated since the team lacks an
explicit logic for role assignment and joint decision making.

Problem orientation
Weed (1969) introduced the problem-oriented record to medicine in order toovercome the lack of coordination between highly specialized inpatient programs.
In the Weed system, diagnostic and treatment problems are extracted from thedata base. The problems either become inoperative or are stated as categorical
diagnoses for which specific treatment or treatments are prescribed. Subsequently,
therapeutic problems remain active, become inactive, or are resolved. The explicit
logic of the system fosters communication and collaboration, and prevents thepatient from slipping through the cracks between organ specialities.
Unfortunately, problem orientation has not been successful in psychiatry.
Grant & Maletzky (1972) recommended that psychiatric problems be statedas deviant behaviours in need of extinction or deficient behaviours in need ofenhancement. However, there are no guidelines for extracting problems from thedata base or deciding how they should be integrated. Too often, the problemoriented record degenerates into a fragmented list of behaviours that misses the gistof a dynamically interacting pattern. Thus, it risks being regarded by the treatment
team as “paper work” undertaken to satisfy external review.

The problem-oriented record
was initially introduced to
medicine in order to overcome
the lack of coordination
between highly specialized
inpatient programs.
Unfortunately, problem
orientation has not beensuccessful in psychiatry.

Focal Inpatient Treatment Planning
Harper (1989) introduced focal planning to facilitate treatment in inpatientsettings. The clinician identifies one focal problem, formulates it in operationalized
terms, and ties treatment to diagnosis by means of explicit objectives. Employing
explicit, jargon-free language, the plan is accessible to both the clinical team andthe patient and family. Focal treatment planning is closely allied to goal-direction.

Goal-Directed Planning
Goal-direction was introduced by Nurcombe & Gallagher (1986) andNurcombe (1989). Pivotal treatment foci are extracted from the diagnostic
formulation. Pivotal foci are those aspects of the diagnosis that are both alterable
and likely to produce the greatest overall effect when changed. In choosing goals
and treatment the clinician must have regard to the time, funds, and resources
available. In contrast to focal inpatient treatment planning, goal-direction isapplicable to all treatment settings: inpatient treatment, for example, aims at
the rapid stabilization of dangerous behaviour prior to extended treatment.
Residential or outpatient treatment involves one or a combination of the resolutionof conscious or unconscious conflict, the remediation of defect, re-education,
rehabilitation, the reconfiguration of the family, and the promotion of strength andassets to compensate for defect.

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DESIGNING A GOAL-DIRECTED TREATMENT PLAN
The steps of goal-directed treatment planning are as follows (Figure A.11.2):

1. Identify pivotal problems and potentials
2. Rewrite the problems/potentials as goals
3. Estimate the time required to reach each goal
4. For each goal identify at least two objectives
5. For each goal decide a treatment or treatments in accordancewith the evidence base, sociocultural appropriateness, and theresources available
6. For each goal/objective identify a monitor to determine if
treatment is progressing or if the goal has been attained.

Identify problems and potentials
The solo clinician (or clinical team in conference) extracts from thebiopsychosocial diagnostic formulation those pivotal problems or potentials

Figure A.11.2 Goal-directed planning

PROBLEMSGOALSOBJECTIVES

TIME

TREATMENT

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MONITORINGEVALUATION

9IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthwhich, if altered, removed or enhanced, are likely to produce the greatest benefit.
For example:••••

The physical or psychosocial stresses that predispose the patient todevelop a disturbance in the future.
The physical or psychosocial stressors that perpetuate the current
disturbance
The physical, psychosocial or administrative factors that led to thepatient’s referral
Factors from the current biopsychosocial pattern that are capable ofchange: physical and neuropsychological dysfunction; symptoms
considered as coping style.

Stabilization, remediation or compensatory goals are abstracted from theformulation by asking these questions:− Which symptoms, signs, impairments, behaviour, emotions,dispositions or dysfunctions must change if the patient is to betreated at a less restrictive level of care?
− Which precipitating or perpetuating factors can be changed oreliminated?
− Which potentials can be promoted in order to compensate fordysfunction or defect?
Typically, four to six problems and one potential are required for acomprehensive plan. Generally speaking, problems are behavioural (e.g., selfcutting), psychological (e.g., unresolved conflict concerning childhood sexual abuse,familial (e.g., parent-child estrangement or parental dissension), social (e.g., poor
peer relations), educational (e.g., learning disability), or medical (e.g., unstablediabetes mellitus). Each problem and potential represents what the clinician orteam aims to help the patient and family address.

Rewrite problems/potentials as goals
Treatment aims to change problems/potentials, for example:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Reduce the intensity of depressive mood
Reduce the frequency of compulsive behaviour
Resolve conflict concerning past abuse
Foster more empathic parent-child communication
Promote consistent, supportive parental discipline (i.e., reverse coercive
parenting)
Foster (enhance) artistic ability.

Choosing the therapies
For each pivotal problem or potential, the clinician selects a therapy or setof therapies appropriate to the patients’ and families’ needs, using these criteria. In
this kind of case which therapy:•

Has the greatest empirical support (i.e., evidence base)?

•Is the least risky (e.g., with fewer side effects)?

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health•Best matches the clinical resources available?

•

Is the most economic of time and money?

•

Best matches the family’s sociocultural characteristics?

The target date
The clinician estimates how long it will take for the therapy or therapies
to be effective (i.e., for the goal to be attained). The date is a benchmark against
which progress can be gauged.

Designing the objectives
An objective is what the patient or family will be like when a goal is attained,
in contrast to a goal which represents what the clinician or team aim to do tohelp the patient. Written objectives are samples of behaviour that monitor goal
attainment. Objectives also indicate the degree to which a goal will be attained.
A goal without an objective risks becoming an empty abstraction. Objectives
without goals run the risk of missing the gist of the matter. Here is an example
from inpatient treatment:•

An objective is what
the patient or family will
be like when a goal isattained.

•

A goal represents what
the clinician or team aim
to do to help the patient.

Goal: Reduce the intensity of depressive mood/suicidal ideation
Objectives:•

On daily mental state examination, the patient will reveal no depressive
affect and no suicidal ideation for two continuous weeks		

•Nurse observers will note that the patient is mixing with peers•

The teacher will report that the patient is applying herself to schoolwork•

The parents will report that the patient is no longer depressed and that
she is making constructive plans.

Evaluation
In some cases, physical measures (e.g., body weight in eating disorder),symptom counts (e.g., attempts at self-injury in autistic disorder) or test results(e.g., change in rating scale scores) can be used. However in many cases, empathic
mental status examination is the most appropriate method of evaluation.
The process of Goal-Directed Treatment Planning is illustrated in figure
A.11.2. Essentially, the clinician asks:•

What is the destination (goal)?

•

By what route will the patient get there (treatment)?

•

How will you know the patient is on track to, or has reached, thedestination (objectives)?

Teamwork
Goal-directed treatment planning allows a clinical team to plan, collaborate,and implement treatment from a common intellectual scaffolding. Each teammember knows what he or she must do to implement therapy and monitor theTreatment planning

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthobjectives. Communication with external reviewers becomes clearer and moreconcise.

Negotiation with the Family
The diagnostic formulation and treatment plan is discussed with the family.
The goals, therapies, and cost (in terms of time and money) are described. The
family has the opportunity to agree or disagree with, or modify, or make choices,within the plan. The family and the clinician or team agree to collaborate, signing
the plan, a copy of which is made available to the family. Thus, fully informed
consent is obtained.

Revision
Attention to the objectives will alert a clinician if treatment stalls, the patient
deteriorates, or unacceptable complications arise. The master plan may need to berevised. Do the goals adequately represent the essence of the patient’s disorder? Are
the goals and objectives practicable? Do the objectives reflect the goals? Are theprescribed therapies appropriate, and are they being delivered faithfully? Should
the goals and objectives be rewritten?

DISADVANTAGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Goal-directed treatment planning takes time to master. It is best taught
by modelling in workshops and case conferences. Some clinicians are reluctant
to specify target dates or objectives. Others resent the time required to produce“paperwork”, preferring to operate in an intuitive, therapy-matching mode.
Psychodynamic goals are admittedly more difficult to frame in contrast to medical,
educational or behavioural objectives. However, once a plan has been articulated,the educational, communicative, regulatory, and medico-legal advantages become
apparent. Finally, goal-directed plans can facilitate research into the relative
effectiveness of different therapies.

CONCLUSION
The reliability with which clinicians make psychiatric diagnoses has
improved since the introduction of the DSM. However, the validity of DSM
diagnostic categories is uncertain. Insel (2013) points out that the DSM diagnostic

Click on the image to view Dr
Nurcombe summarise goal-directed
treatment planning (2:44)

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

CASE EXAMPLE: THE TREATMENT PLAN
To return to Janet, the 17-year-old with depression, suicidal ideation and self cutting following date rape superimposed on unresolved griefcaused by paternal loss, the following pivotal problems and potentials canbe identified:•Depression/suicidal ideation•

Unresolved grief following loss of father•

Unresolved stress reaction following date-rape with self-hatredand self-cutting•

Poor family communication; parent-parent and father-patient
estrangement•

Artistic ability.

These problems can be rewritten as five goals:
1. Relieve depressive mood and eliminate suicidal ideation
2. Resolve grief following loss of father
3. Resolve stress reaction following date rape
4. Foster better parent-parent and parent-child communication
5. Promote artistic ability
For each goal, the following therapies could be instituted:
1. Relieve depressive mood:•

Individual psychotherapy (dynamic or interpersonal), weekly,
for 12 weeks, tapering off up to six months•

Antidepressant medication (if psychotherapy alone after fourweeks is ineffective)

2. Resolve grief following loss of father•

Individual psychotherapy, as above

3. Resolve stress reaction following date rape•

Individual psychotherapy, as above

4. Enhance family communication•

Family therapy, weekly for 3 months

5. Foster artistic ability•

Encourage patient to resume ballet training.

Treatment, thus, involves a combination of individual psychotherapy,
antidepressant medication, and family therapy, adjusted and titrated according to the patient’s progress over six months.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The objectives for each goal are as follows:
1. Relieve depressive mood
• No depressive mood (or a score in the non-clinical range in a
depression rating scale) or suicidal ideation on mental status
examination for two months.
•

Good peer interaction without sexual promiscuity•

Satisfactory school progress.

2. Resolve grief•

In individual therapy, the patient will appreciate the connections
between loss, depression, the need for love, and sexual
promiscuity.

3. Resolve stress reaction•

In individual therapy, the patient will understand the connection
between rape trauma, low self-esteem, and self cutting•

No self-cutting for one month.

4. Promote family communication•

Parents will be able to plan together in Janet’s best interests•

Janet will be able to tell her parents how she was affected bytheir separation•

Janet will resume visits with her father and these will be mutuallysatisfactory.

5. Foster artistic ability•

Janet will resume ballet training.

system is based on the consensus of committees about symptom clusters, not on
objective measures. Symptoms alone rarely indicate the best treatment. Insel
recommends that psychiatry design a classificatory system linked to cognitive,
neural circuit, and genetic biomarkers. Such a system, he contends, is more likely
to be an accurate guide to treatment.
However, psychological disturbance varies in specificity from categories(e.g., bipolar disorder) to dimensions (e.g., borderline personality disorder).
Some disorders are related primarily to psychosocial predisposition, precipitationand perpetuation, and treatment must be directed to individual and family
psychopathology as well as to the biology of anxiety or depression, for example.
The biopsychosocial diagnostic formulation and Goal-Directed Treatment
Plan are designed to account for both the biological and the psychosocial factors at
the heart of psychopathology. It contrasts with reductionistic approaches that deal
exclusively with either biological or psychosocial factors alone.

Practice these skills in the case in the Appendix

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•
•

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Comments?

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APPENDIX A.11.1
FOR SELF-DIRECTEDLEARNING
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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

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Nurcombe B, Gallagher RM (1986). The Clinical Process in
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American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic & Statistical
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Perry S, Cooper AM, Michels MD (1987). The
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Faulkner LF, Kinzie JD, Angell R et al (1965). A comprehensive
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Scadding JG (1967). Diagnosis: The clinician and the computer.
Lancet, 2 (7521):877-882.

Grant RL, Maltzky B (1972). Application of the Weed system topsychiatric records. International Journal of Psychiatry
in Medicine, 3:119-129.

Shapiro T (1989). The psychodynamic formulation in child andadolescent psychiatry. Journal of American Academy ofChild & Adolescent Psychiatry ,26:675-680.

Harper G (1989). Focal inpatient treatment planning. Journalof the American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, 28:31-37.

Sperry L (1992). Demystifying the psychiatric case formulation.
Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry, 10:12-19.

Insel TR (2013). Transforming diagnosis. Director’sBlog, NIMH, April 29. <nimh.nih.gov/about/
director/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml>
Leigh H, Reiser, MF (1993). The Patient: Biological, Psychologicaland Social Dimensions of Medical Practice (2nd ed),New York, NY: Plenum.
Nurcombe B (1989). Goal-directed treatment planning andthe principles of brief hospitalization. Journal of theAmerican Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,
28:26-30.

Sperry LT, Gudeman JE, Faulkner LR (1992). Psychiatric Case
Formulations. Washington, DC: American PsychiatricPress.
Weed LL (1969). Medical Records, Medical Evaluation andPatient Care. Cleveland, OH: Case Western Reserve
University Press.
World Health Organization (1992). The ICD-10 Classification of
Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Clinical Descriptions
and Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva: World HealthOrganization.

Faculty and attendees at ICAPAP’s Helmut Remschmidt Research Seminar, Stellenbosch, South Africa, December 2013.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental HealthAppendix A.11.1

Below is the summary of a hypothetical case (a composite of several real patients)
kindly provided by Associate Professor Dr Susan MK Tan, Department of Psychiatry,
Faculty of Medicine,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC), Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia). Please read the case, make a provisional diagnosis and a problemoriented treatment plan as described in the chapter. You may then compare your planwith the model answer.

DanialDanial, an 8-year-old Malaysianmale, is the elder of two siblings.
He has been referred to the childpsychiatry clinic by a school
counsellor who noticed new and oldscars and bruises on his arms. Hidden
by his long pants were numerous marks
due to lashings with a rotan, a longpliant cane.
Danial’s Chinese mother wasformerly a Taoist. His father is
a Muslim of Malay ethnicity. The
parents fell in love while working
together in a supermarket. Theirmarriage was accepted reluctantly
by the conservative maternal
grandparents who said, “Why can’t
you find someone of your own kind?
Now you have to convert to anotherreligion to marry this man”. His
paternal grandparents are more
accepting. The parents became
traders in the night markets, sellingtrinkets and souvenirs. They shift
daily from one market to another intheir battered van, barely making
ends meet. They take their children
with them while they work as there isno one to babysit them.
While his parents work, Danialand his sister are expected to sit
at a table and do their homework,
draw or play. Sara, Danial’s 7-yearold sister, completes everything byherself and then helps out in thestall. She can already calculate thecorrect change for customers. Danial
has problems reading and writing.

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He confuses p’s and q’s, can barely
write his name, and has difficultywith arithmetic. He is better withhis hands and is much sought afterby his sister and other children
to repair toys. When his parents
work he prefers to wander from stall
to stall. He makes friends easily
but always with younger children or
teenagers who have him run errands.
He was once seen smoking by his
father who caned him. His parents
compare Danial adversely with his
sister.
His maternal grandparents blame
the mother for ignoring their advice,when she was expecting Danial, not tovisit a zoo (where she was frightenedby a monkey). According to the
grandparents’ beliefs, that incident
and his mother’s marrying outside ofher race had displeased the ancestors
who had thus cursed Danial to behave
like a monkey, never still.
At school, Danial is regarded asa naughty boy who cannot sit still.
He is inattentive and at the bottomof the class. His physical educationteacher says he excels in football
and won a gold medal in the 100 meter
dash. However, Danial does not share
his problems, even with him.
Danial has many friends among
the younger children but few of his
own age. He is often reprimanded byteachers for cutting queues, buttingin when others are talking, and not

16IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Healthtaking turns at games. Danial hits
other children when he is unhappy
with them but he sometimes gives themitems filched from his parents’ stall.
Danial accompanies his parents
to the clinic. He is small andthin for his age, below the fiftiethpercentile for height and weight.
He is wearing an old, dirty school
uniform and has holes in his shoes.
He is not pale and does not havedysmorphic features. The general
physical examination is normal. At
first his eye contact is poor. He
fidgets in his seat and is reluctant
to say anything bad about his parents
saying that is against family rules.
However, when he realizes that thetherapist wants to help him, hebreaks down and weeps. He says hehas been sad, angry and jealous for along time but trying not to feel thatway. He admits to having problems
sleeping. He sometimes wakes up
screaming when he has nightmaresof being hit by his father. He has
felt irritable over the last year,
especially when he is ridiculed for
not being able to read and write. He
thinks of killing himself but doesn’tknow how. He enjoys athletics andlooks up to the sportsmaster who is
the only teacher who says kind things
to him.
Danial admits that his father
and mother beat him frequently
when he loses or breaks things, orwhen he disappears from the stallwhen they are working. They never
explain why they beat him. He has
felt unhappy for as long as he canremember, and thinks nobody loves
him. His maternal grandparents say
he is like a monkey. He thinks

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his parents don’t love him as they
compare him with his sister and ask,
“Why can’t you be like her?”. Hisparents rarely do nice, enjoyable
things with him. They bought him afootball for his last birthday but it
was confiscated by his father when hebroke a window. For festive seasons
like Aid Mubarak, which he celebrated
with his paternal grandparents, orChinese New Year, which he celebrated
with his maternal grandparents, hereceived only one set of new clothes
whilst his sister was given several
outfits by relatives. He often thinksof running away but does not know
where to go.
When interviewed, his parents
admit they hit him at least oncea week. They regard this as the
Asian way of disciplining children.
They were both brought up by strict
parents. Danial’s father reveals
that he himself had problems sitting
still and focussing on schoolwork.
He still does not read or write
well. This was one of the reasons
he fell in love with his wife: she
accepts him as he is and does theaccounts and paperwork for theirbusiness. Danial was an “accident”.
The parents had to get married
quickly to hide the fact that hewas conceived out of wedlock (which
would have been a serious problem
for the grandparents on both sides).
They insist they love Danial but his
misadventures stress them, especiallyas they are struggling to make ends
meet. They do not think he has
problems other than naughtiness anddisobedience.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

MODEL ANSWER
Compare your management plan with the one suggested here. Keep in mind that themodel answer is not the only way of dealing with Danial’s problems. There may be othermeans of taking care of them depending for example on the availability of services,
access to medication, cultural issues, or local circumstances. The model answer isprovided as a guide for discussion of the issues that may need to be addressed.

PROVISIONAL DIAGNOSTIC FORMULATIONThe categorical provisional diagnoses (according to DSM-5) are:••••Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Possible specific learning disorder (with impairment in written expression and arithmetic) (SLD)
Possible borderline or low-average intellectual functioning
Depressive disorder: dysthymia.

Intelligence and educational testing are required to rule in or out SLD and intellectual disability. He may
have SLD alone, intellectual disability alone, or a combination of the two.
Danial’s inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and learning problems are probably innate. The
combination of inattentiveness, hyperactivity and learning disorder have caused academic failure and low self
esteem. His self esteem has been further eroded as a result of the coerciveness, overpunitiveness, and rejectionof his overstressed parents, and by his maternal grandparents’ “folk” personifications of him as a monkey andtheir belief he was cursed.
Without treatment, the prognosis is poor. There are risks of suicide or juvenile delinquency if he isfurther alienated from his family. Much depends on whether the school can be mobilized to provide educational
evaluation and remedial teaching. The clinician’s capacity to engage and support the parents is crucial. Their
attitude to discipline should not be criticized. Rather, alternative approaches to child-rearing should be gently
encouraged on the basis that punishment alone has not worked. The parents are more likely to cooperate if
stimulant medication is rapidly effective. The promotion of Danial’s practical skills and athletic ability will help
to compensate for his low self esteem.

Investigations•••

Paediatric examination of his short statureIntelligence testing
Educational testing (to clarify the existence and extent of specific learning disability)

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

TREATMENT PLAN
Danial is an 8-year-old boy, the older of two siblings born to a couple of mixed Chinese and Malay
parents. His mother converted from Taoism to father’s religion of Islam before marriage.

Pattern
Danial presents with the following symptoms and signs:• Short, underweight• Scruffy• Poor eye contact• Fidgety• Won’t sit still in school• Inattentive• Possible perceptual immaturity• Breaks things, cuts queues, butts in, doesn’t take turns in conversation• Doesn’t mix well with peers• Keeps his problems to himself• Thinks his parents don’t love him because he is bad• Feels disfavoured• Thinks of running away or suicide• Hits peers or gives them presents• Steals from parents• Insomnia and nightmares of being beaten• Sad, angry, jealous

Predisposing problems•••

Premarital pregnancy forcing early marriage
Mixed marriage opposed by maternal grandparents
Father inattentive and hyperactive in school with problems of literacy and numeracy (possible
ADHD and learning disorder, suggesting a genetic predisposition)

Precipitating/perpetuating problems•

Poverty•••••

Stressful parental work situation
Excessive physical discipline by both parents, especially father (justified by parents as the cultural norm)
Coercive child rearing
Compared unfavourably by parents to younger sister
Folk explanations by grandparents (“monkey” identification and punishment for mixed marriage)••

Poor school performance
Lack of friends

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Potentials•••

Repairs toys
Athletic ability
Good relationship with sportsmaster.

Target problems/potentials
1. Inattention/hyperactivity/ impulsiveness2. Learning problems
3. Educational support
4. Coercive child rearing
5. Dysthymia
6. Athletic and practical ability

TREATMENT GOALS
1.

Improve attention, activity level and impulse control
•
•
•

2.

Education of teachers (school conference)
Education of parents (parental counselling)
Stimulant medication, preferably long-acting (medication should havea beneficial effect within two weeks to one month).

Remediate learning problems•

3.

Remedial education for specific learning disorder (this will take six
months to two years)

Provide educational support•

4.

Education of school staff (teachers, school counsellor, sportsmaster,
principal) at school conferences about the nature of ADHD, SLD, andthe need to promote potentials. Monthly school conferences will be
required for six to twelve months

Improve quality of parental child-rearing and discipline••••

Parental counselling
Triple-P* – Positive Parenting Program or other form of parent education
to improve their parenting style and reduce coercive practices
Possible education of maternal grandparents in similar positive practices
These interventions will probably require six months to one year.

Treatment planning

A.11*Triple P – Positive
Parenting Program® is oneof the many parenting andfamily support programs
available to prevent aswell as treat behaviouraland emotional problems
in children and teenagers
drawing on social learning,
cognitive behavioural anddevelopmental theory.

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IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental HealthReverse dysthymia

5.

•
•
•
•

6.

Parental education and counselling about ADHD, SLD, and child-rearing techniques
Support from school counsellor
Promotion of potentials
These interventions will probably require six months to one year

Promote potentials•••

Enlist support of sportsmaster and school to promote athletic ability
Enlist support of father to promote practical skills
These interventions will probably take 12 months.

TREATMENT MONITORING
Goals 1,2,3 (attention, impulsivity, learning problems)••

Monthly school telephone contact or conference
Regular parental interviews (weekly for 3-6 months, less frequently thereafter)

Goal 4 (child rearing and discipline)•

Parental report (weekly for 3-6 months)

Goal 5 (dysthymia)•••

Mental status examination (weekly for 3-6 months)
Parental report (weekly for 3-6 months)
The Strength & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Malay Version) administered monthly for 3-6
months)Goal 6 (potentials)•

Parental report (weekly for 6 months, less frequently thereafter)

TREATMENT CONTINGENCIES
•
•

•
•

•

If intelligence/educational testing and remedial education are not available, the clinician should
proceed on the basis that Danial has both ADHD and SLD.
If possible, the mother and paternal grandparents should be enlisted to teach Danial to read andcalculate, but they must be encouraged to be patient. Hopefully, the parents will be less coercive if
stimulant medication has a rapid benefit. However, they should be warned that it may take time tofind the right dose of the right medication.
If Triple-P or similar program is not available, the clinician should include its principles in regularparental counselling.
Consultation with and education of the school staff are essential. The clinician should work toenlist the support of the sportsmaster. It is possible that the father could be enlisted to teach Danial
practical skills.
Regular administration of the DSQ will help to monitor progress.

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