How to fill out the children's mental health form

The core key to filling out the children's mental health form is to be truthful, consistent, and without preconceived stances. Don't hide problems for the sake of "face", and don't casually label your children as "mentally unhealthy."

I used to work as a volunteer assistant in the child psychology department of the district's maternal and child care department for half a year. I have seen too many parents make mistakes when filling out the questionnaire. The one who impressed me most was the mother of a child who had a child in a large class last fall. She was obviously anxious about entering the kindergarten for almost three weeks. She cried until she vomited every morning, and would suddenly wake up crying at night. "Not going to kindergarten". She was afraid that her child would be "specially treated" by the kindergarten after filling out the scale. All negative options were filled in with "never". Later, the teacher found that the child sat in a daze all day and refused to play with others, so she referred her to an intervention. It was only delayed for half a month, and the child suffered a lot.

Before filling it out, take a look at the applicable age and assessment period on the top of the scale. Don’t fill it out with the wrong form. Previously, a parent used an anxiety scale for children over 10 years old to fill out for a 4-year-old child, and struggled for ten minutes with the option of “Do you feel academic pressure is high?” It was a completely useless exercise. The assessment cycle of most children's mental health scales is the last two weeks. When filling out, keep an eye on the status of these two weeks. Don't count the tantrums your child had last year, and don't just check "frequently aggressive behavior" just because your child had a fight with a child yesterday. "Often" in the scale generally defaults to three or more times a week for more than two weeks, so don't expand the definition casually.

Speaking of this, there is another point that the industry has not yet agreed on: should children participate in filling out the scale? One school of thought is that the cognitive ability of children under 12 years old is not yet stable. The choice of options depends on the current mood. If you were happy after eating sweets just now, select "not unhappy". If you were scolded just now, select "sad". The credibility is not high. Parents or teachers who have been raising children for a long time can be more accurate. ； The other school of thought is that as long as the child is over 8 years old and can fully understand the options, he can also participate. After all, many hidden feelings cannot be observed by adults. For example, some children are bullied at school and dare not say anything. Everything seems to be normal at home, but in fact they are afraid of going to school every day. At this time, letting the children fill in the questions themselves can reveal hidden problems. My own experience is that the adult can first fill in the form according to the observed behavior, and then select a few questions that the child can understand to check with him. He does not have to let him do it all by himself, and don't completely ignore his feelings.

If you encounter an option that you are not sure about, don't just choose "yes" or "no", just make a brief note on the side with the actual situation. For example, if you are not sure whether your child is "socially withdrawn", just write "he only plays with two fixed children downstairs. He will hide when meeting strangers, but he will be very lively when he gets to know each other." The doctor who will do the subsequent evaluation will understand it at a glance, which is much more useful than the options you check blindly.