In an interview with Contemporary Pediatrics spoke, Michael S. Jellinek, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School discusses the national emergency in children’s mental health, specifically addressing what pediatricians can do to best address the mental health needs of their patients and highlighting the importance of mental health screenings as an essential element of well visit checkups.
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While mental health is typically separated from pediatrics, Dr. Jellinek argues that this separation simply doesn’t make any sense. If diabetes and asthma fall under the umbrella of pediatrics, why should mental health issues be any different? He further states, “We should be screening for psychosocial functioning and depression, especially in adolescents. That ought to be universal.”
The Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) has been shown to be an effective screening tool in pediatric practices. It is a 35-item patient- or parent-reported questionnaire which was developed 35 years ago by Dr. Jellinek to identify a broad range of emotional and behavioral problems and to provide an assessment of psychosocial functioning in children. In addition to the original questionnaire, there are translations into 29 languages, a youth self-report version, and a shorter 17-item version for both parents and youth. Studies incorporating the PSC into the electronic medical record indicate that 70%-90% of children in large systems can be screened routinely and used to facilitate mental health referrals.
In a recent commentary published in Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr. Jellinek discusses the use of the PSC in pediatric practice.
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Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) – The MGH Psychiatry website includes online versions of the PSC and links to translations.
Using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (Contemporary Pediatrics)
Arauz-Boudreau A, Riobueno-Naylor A, Haile H, Holcomb JM, Lucke CM, Joseph B, Jellinek MS, Murphy JM. How an Electronic Medical Record System Facilitates and Demonstrates Effective Psychosocial Screening in Pediatric Primary Care. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2020 Feb;59(2):154-162.
Jellinek MS, Murphy JM, Little M, Pagano ME, Comer DM, Kelleher KJ.Use of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist to screen for psychosocial problems in pediatric primary care: a national feasibility study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999 Mar;153(3):254-60.
Michael Jellinek, MD
Michael S. Jellinek, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry and of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Jellinek was the Chief of Child Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital for 32 years from 1979-2012. He has also served as Chief Clinical Officer of Partners HealthCare (2012-2014) and as President of Newton Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA, (2001-2012).
