ABSTRACT
However, except for severe psychopathological states (within the schizophrenic or the affectively disordered spectrum), most of the adolescents seen in the clinical practice might be more reasonably viewed as demonstrating problems evolving from a developmental crisis rather than psychopathological states. Given that well-synthesized personality style in adolescents is not yet fully developed and patterns of defenses are not fully crystallized, the personality structure and effective defensive strategies can be more vulnerable to disruption by contextual factors (e.g., exposure to trauma) that exacerbate subjective distress. Accordingly, when assessing adolescents, one must consider in addition to issues related to the stormy developmental stage, contextual factors, and the vulnerability of existing structures along with the potential for rapid recovery. Indeed, because major mental disorders are often present in atypical forms during adolescence, assessing mental functioning in youngsters might be more complicated than in adults. However, rather than providing a diagnosis in terms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) the assessment is usually aimed at describing the psychodynamic picture, evaluating cases of faltering personality development, detecting risk factors, and understanding subjective experience of symptom patterns.
