Psychiatric assessment of the very young child in the clinic

There is a clear shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in general and an even greater shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists who are comfortable assessing and treating children younger than 5 years of age. Evidence shows that the rates of common child mental health disorders in preschoolers are similar to those seen in later childhood. Although AACAP has described practice parameters for the assessment of infants and toddlers, and standardized structured interviews and assessment tools exist, the lack of training as well as time constraints in the office prevent many practitioners from feeling competent in their ability to assess very young children.