ABSTRACT
Psychotropic medications must be considered as part of best practice in working with youth. This chapter describes the state of affairs for psychotropic medication with youth. It provides an ilustrative example—youth comprehensive risk assessment and application (YCRA) comprehensive report and YCRA baseline and six-month summaries with a youth on two medications. Mental health clinicians working with youth often will evaluate youthful offenders presenting problems such as insomnia, depression, disruptive behaviors, or other anxiety, and initiate referrals to psychiatrists for further diagnostic evaluation and possible psychotropic medication treatment. Multiclass psychotropic treatment has become increasingly common in the medical care of American children and adolescents. Antidepressant and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication combinations were the most prevalent multiclass psychotropic regimen. Average annual growth rates for the prescription of psychotropics to youth in the United States has increased since the 1990s, with especially rapid acceleration after 1999.
