A staggering 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5 to 16 suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder – that is around three in every classroom. It is widely accepted that most adult mental illness originates in childhood so it is essential that issues are detected and treated early to prevent them from escalating into more serious problems in later life.
GL Assessment has today launched the Paediatric Index of Emotional Distress (PI-ED), a single yet robust measure that will make it easier for clinical practitioners and others working with children and young people to identify clinically significant symptoms of emotional distress in 8 to 16-year-olds.
Based on the highly-regarded Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which is widely used to aid the diagnosis of anxiety and depression in adults, the PI-ED uses language and concepts that are appropriate for children and is the only measure of its kind designed to differentiate between symptoms of emotional distress and those of physical illness.
Dr Suzy O'Connor, Child Clinical Psychologist with NHS Ayrshire & Arran who led the development of the PI-ED, says: "It is vital that professionals have the ability to simply and accurately identify those children and young people who may have specific mental health needs. The PI-ED offers a brief screening measure that will help clinicians identify where a child's issues lie and enable them to put interventions in place in a much more targeted and cost-efficient way."
Professor Rory O'Connor, University of Stirling, who led the trialling of the PI-ED, says: "Not only is the PI-ED a really useful clinical tool, it is also an invaluable research tool which has been trialled on more than 1100 children and young people in schools and clinical settings. It is brief, easy to score and should help with research aimed at the early identification of those at risk of developing mental health problems in the future."
The new measure can be used with both children who have physical health problems – those in paediatric clinics and hospitals – and those within the general population, such as schools. It is incredibly simple to administer and score and enables practitioners to spot where symptoms such as stomach pain, dizziness and a lack of energy are the result of emotional difficulties. This could allow more appropriate channelling of referrals into mental rather than physical health pathways.


Read the original article at http://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/press/press_releases/2010_releases/pi-ed.asp