Academic literature on the topic 'Adult children of aging parents Communication in the family'

Child and adolescent psychiatry is the medical specialty that works with children, young people, and families with emotional and behavioural problems. As children and young people are still developing and grow­ing, their emotional wellbeing and functioning needs to be thought about in this context, making it different from adult psychiatry. Communication with people of all ages is vital within the specialty and information from a wide variety of sources, including parents or carers, school, and peers, is used to inform the clinical picture, in addition to history-taking and direct observations of the child’s behaviour. Play is often used to understand younger children’s thoughts and feelings. In theory, the specialty covers children and young people from birth up to the teenage years, although different services cover slightly different age ranges. The spectrum of difficulties covered within the specialty include psy­chiatric disorders also seen in adults (such as psychosis); problems spe­cific to the age group (such as separation anxiety); lifelong conditions which start in childhood (such as ADHD); and conditions that may pre­sent in different ways in childhood or adolescence (such as phobias). Approaches to treatment include psychopharmacological interven­tions, and numerous therapeutic modalities including family therapy and CBT, which can be modified for different age groups. Most work is community based, although there are specialist inpatient units which offer on-going educational opportunities to young people who need the intensive support and risk reduction of a hospital admission. Work tends to be done within MDTs using a range of knowledge and expertise to offer the most appropriate care.

While some practices typically used with young children—such as summer transition programs and home visits—can be adapted to accommodate older students, there are also strategies that specifically address the questions and concerns of middle and high school students and their parents. Often faced for the first time with multiple classes, these students are trying to find their place and adjust to new expectations in several classrooms, not just one. These campuses are also typically much larger, so students need additional time to learn their way around—one tour might not be enough. Even for students who aren’t moving to a new community, the transition into a middle or high school can be a stressful and uncertain time. So having a plan for providing extra support for students who are changing schools during these years can prevent students from struggling and feeling isolated. The Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based research organization, has identified 40 developmental assets that researchers say adolescents need to develop into healthy, caring, and responsible young adults. They are organized into external and internal assets. External assets include conditions such as positive family communication, providing service to others, and having positive adult role models. Internal assets refer to qualities such as being motivated to achieve, reading for pleasure, and having the skills to resist negative peer pressure. Educators working with students who are changing schools during their middle and high school years can consider ways to foster these assets when creating welcoming and transition-related programs and practices. Student leaders who assist in these programs, such as peer mentors and buddies, can also become familiar with these assets—to strengthen their own skills and to benefit students they are trying to support. A variety of strategies exist for welcoming new students who are transitioning during a time when they might be trying to figure out what interests them, what kind of friends they want, and how to solve problems without help from their parents.