How Neuropsychological Testing Helps Identify Depression and Anxiety in Children and Teens

Neuropsychological testing is often recommended to assess emotional and cognitive functioning in children and adolescents when there are concerns about depression and anxiety. These assessments provide a comprehensive understanding of how mood disorders affect a young person’s behavior, thinking, and daily life which is different from how it affects adults. 

Neuropsychological evaluations can help identify depression and anxiety in several ways:

• Assessing Cognitive Functioning: Mood disorders can impact concentration, memory, and decision-making. Testing can reveal cognitive difficulties that may be related to depression or anxiety.
• Evaluating Emotional Regulation: These assessments can measure how well a child manages emotions like fear, sadness, and frustration, which are often heightened in anxiety and depression.
• Identifying Behavioral Patterns: Through structured tasks and observations, neuropsychological testing can highlight behaviors such as avoidance, irritability, or withdrawal, which are common in mood disorders.
• Differentiating Between Disorders: Testing can help distinguish between depression, anxiety, and other conditions with overlapping symptoms, ensuring an accurate diagnosis.

Our assessments help you find the right support for your child by providing the following:

• Accurate Diagnosis: Helps in identifying the specific nature of emotional difficulties, leading to a more precise diagnosis.
• Tailored Treatment Plans: Provides insights that can guide the development of individualized treatment strategies, including therapy and educational accommodations.
• Monitoring Progress: Allows for tracking changes over time, helping to assess the effectiveness of interventions.
• Support for Families and Educators: Offers valuable information to parents and educators, as well as determine whether a student may need special education services (IEP) or educational accommodations (504 Plan)
• Connecting Families with the Appropriate Professionals and Resources: We are well connected in the community and can offer you specific resources (such as a therapist, psychiatrist, social worker, family therapy, parent training, etc.)

When to Consider Testing

This may be a difficult decision to make. Talk to your pediatrician and child’s teacher. Also you may want to consider neuropsychological testing if your child or adolescent exhibits:

• Persistent feelings of sadness, irritability, or worry
• Temper outbursts that are atypical for their age
• Withdrawal from social and family activities
• Decline in academic performance
• Low self-esteem
• Physical complaints without a clear medical cause
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Acting-out or high risk behaviors
• Changes in sleep and appetite patterns

If you have questions about our services or like to schedule a consultation with one of our neuropsychologists, please call (248) 644-9466 or email us through the form on our contact page.