Developmental Assessment in Infancy

Developmental Assessment in Infancy

Many environmental factors can affect the developmental stages of a child. Max was born with a teenage mother who smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol before realizing she was pregnant. Max’s father rarely takes care of his child and does not provide any financial support. His recent check-up reveals that he is underweight. He has not been eating of late and pushes his food away. The second problem is that Max has speech delays. He is not vocal, which is not normal for a two-year-old. The third problem that Max has is separation anxiety disorder. He cries and screams when left alone in the room. He wakes up screaming at night and often sleeps with her mother in her bed.

The biopsychosocial theory describes the interactions between biology, psychology and socioenvironmental factors. This theory discusses how these three aspects have a role in human development, health and disease (Ashford et al., 2018). Biological factors may include biochemical and genetic factors; psychological factors include mood and personality, while social factors include medical, cultural and familial factors (Ashford et al., 2018). It is important to consider hereditary factors and their role in infancy development when working with an infant. The clinician can inquire about the family history of the mother. Psychological factors are also influencing Max’s issues. Max fears being left alone and hence develops a separation anxiety disorder. His father is also not present, which may worsen her issues. Max’s father does not contribute financially, a socioeconomic factor contributing to Max’s issues. His mother is also busy working and studying.

A 2-year-old should be able to communicate and combine different words. Max is having trouble with vocalizing words. Speech therapy is the appropriate intervention to help him with his speech issues. Speech therapy will help Max communicate even when he cannot use words. A speech therapist with help the family and Max to find the best ways of communicating and understanding each other (Feldman, 2019). Effective communication may help Max reduce stress and anxiety. The speech therapist will advise Max’s parents on how they can communicate with Max and help with speech production. They will also be advised on activities they can do at home to help Max with his speech issues at home.

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) can be managed with a cognitive behavioural therapy program. This therapy will involve separate sessions with the child and the parents. The child and the parent will be educated on anxiety and helped recognize and remodel beliefs regarding separation situations and enhance their coping strategies and rationales for exposure (Lippert et al., 2019). After individual separate sessions, there will be a family session with the parents and the child. The parents will be given psychoeducation on irrational parental beliefs concerning separation and parental strategies to help reduce separation anxiety (Lippert et al., 2019). Study results have shown that family-based cognitive behavioural therapy is as effective as child-focused therapy (Lippert et al., 2019).

Max’s appetite issues may be due to the issues in the family. It is thus important to have family therapy sessions with the parents to discuss parental issues. The family therapy will help discuss the dynamics in this family, which may affect Max’s health (Varghese et al., 2020). The issues include the lack of availability of the father, lack of financial support, and the busy nature of Max’s mother’s life. Family therapy will help the family navigate this difficult period. Children’s behavioural and emotional issues are the main reasons for family therapy (Varghese et al., 2020). Family therapy will help address the issues affecting Max.

Documenting the patient’s developmental milestones would be critical in understanding if the proposed interventions are effective. It will be important to set up regular family visits to see how the family progresses in the areas discussed in therapy. Analyzing how Max reacts after being separated from his family will show whether the patient’s separation anxiety is improving. Measuring the patient’s weight will also be important to see if his appetite issues have been solved. Family interviews can also be done to inquire about their progress to be available to the patient. Concerning speech issues, speech therapy progress and effectiveness will be evaluated depending on how many words Max can verbalize.

Biological, psychological and environmental factors have all played a critical role in the developmental issues that Max is facing. Different interventions such as CBT, family therapy, and speech therapy can help solve Max’s problems. Involving Max’s parents in the process will help improve treatment outcomes.

References

Ashford, J. B., LeCroy, C. W., & Williams, L. R. (2018). Empowerment Series: Human behaviour in the social environment: A multidimensional perspective (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Feldman, H. M. (2019). How young children learn language and speech. Pediatrics In Review, 40(8), 398-411. https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.2017-0325

Lippert, M. W., Pflug, V., Lavallee, K., & Schneider, S. (2019). Enhanced family approaches for the anxiety disorders. Innovations in CBT for Childhood Anxiety, OCD, and PTSD, 182-205. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108235655.009

Varghese, M., Kirpekar, V., & Loganathan, S. (2020). Family interventions: Basic principles and techniques. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(8), 192. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_770_19 

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Developmental Assessment in Infancy

The infant stage of childhood is defined as those between 0-2 years. Children in this stage experience physical growth and development, going through multiple key milestones, expanding their cognitive skills, and exhibiting emotional and psychological attachment styles and connections. Given that continual research in the area of early childhood development has shown that infancy is not just about surviving but thriving, it is important for a human service professional to be aware of the different environmental influences that can impact children in this life stage. Being aware of these influences and understanding what protective factors are needed to assist with healthy development and what risk factors may cause complications is beneficial to know what interventions and supports to offer both the child and the caregiver.

To prepare for this assignment, begin by reading the case study below. Reflect on the influences in Max’s environment that the human service professional needs to consider in relation to the developmental stage of infancy, taking into consideration the biopsychosocial perspective.

Case Study

Max is a 2-year-old boy who currently lives with his mother, Mary, and maternal grandparents, given that Mary was 16 years old when he was born and living with her parents at the time. Max’s biological father is not involved in a relationship with Max. He does occasionally see Max as they all live in the same town, but he does not make any effort to visit Max or provide financial support.

Mary did not know that she was pregnant for the first three months of her pregnancy. During this time, Mary reports that she did drink and smoke cigarettes on the weekends when she was partying with her friends. It was only after she started becoming ill and went to the doctor that she realized she was pregnant. Mary reported not drinking any alcohol or smoking for the rest of her pregnancy. However, she does state that once Max was born, she went back to drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes on occasion when she could get some time with her friends to help her relax.

Max was born eight weeks premature and spent three weeks in the NICU at the hospital due to insufficient lung development. Since his release, he has had frequent trips to the doctor for upper respiratory issues and has been diagnosed with reactive airway disorder. Due to this diagnosis, Max needs albuterol treatment with a nebulizer a minimum of 2x/day and occasional steroids. At his recent two-year checkup, he was noted as being underweight and did not appear to be vocal. Mary reports that he does not say a lot at home either, although he does seem to understand and respond to things she says based on his actions.

Given that Mary is still working to complete her GED, and is also the main caregiver for her son, she works about 16 hours a week at a local restaurant as a waitress, therefore she uses Medicaid to help pay for healthcare for Max. Mary’s parents have allowed her and Max to continue to live with them as long as Mary works toward getting her GED and maintains her job. They do help provide childcare when she is at work or taking her GED classes.

Given Max’s health issues, he does not have a lot of social interaction with other children his age. His contact is mainly limited to Mary and her parents. Her parents do try to play with Max and provide a variety of learning activities. Mary states that she is very busy with work and studying for her GED and does not always have time to interact with Max when he wants to play. he often screams and cries when people leave the room and he is left alone to play. He does not sleep through the night, and at least 2x/a week, he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. Mary reports that he often sleeps in her bed with her so she can get some sleep as well. He also has not been eating well lately, pushing food away.

Assignment Directions

For this assignment, use the case study above and the Unit 4 Assignment Template to write a paper that discusses how various environmental factors influence the client’s behaviour within the developmental stage of infancy (0-2 years).

Please respond to the following:

Identify three relevant diagnoses, problems, or issues described in the case study that are affecting Max.
Considering the biopsychosocial theory, discuss what factors are relevant to consider when working with a client who is in the developmental stage of infancy.
Based on each of the three issues you identified in the first bullet, identify a minimum of three specific services and/or interventions that could be provided by a human service professional to assist Max and explain how each service and/or intervention is helpful to the client.
Discuss how you would evaluate whether each of the three services and/or interventions that you suggested were effective for this client.