DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Discourse Analysis: Adolescent Psychology

Zoe Martindale

Department of Writing, Appalachian State University

RC 2001: Second Year Writing

Professor Clarice Brown

February 2, 2022
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Discourse Analysis of Adolescent Psychology

The field of clinical child and adolescent psychology is a specialty that focuses heavily

on written and spoken communication. As Skokauskas (2009) mentions, child and adolescent

psychiatry is the primary specialty focused on the mental health of youths. This community

encompasses a variety of experts, researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and others, all

involved in the conversation concerning the mental health of adolescents and how the topic

should be approached. This community holds a lot of common values and goals, methods and

genres of communication, as well as a vocabulary used primarily in the field of adolescent

psychology.

In any discourse community, having common goals, objectives, and/or values is an

important factor of furthering scholarly conversation. In the community surrounding adolescent

psychology, there are many common goals that individuals share, one being understanding and

developing knowledge of mental disorders in children, The DSM-5 is one of the most referenced

texts in the general field of psychology, and a majority of the content can be utilized for

adolescent psychology. “The DSM is a classification of mental disorders with associated criteria

designed to facilitate more reliable diagnoses of these disorders” (American Psychiatric

Association, 2013). With The diagnosis of mental disorders in children being the main focus of

adolescent psychology, the DSM-5 serves as a tool to increase understanding among those who

wish to know more about the field. According to The American Psychiatric Association (2013),

the precursor to the DSM-5 was published in the year 1844. The text has been continually

developed following the first release, revisions and additions have further developed the
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conversation surrounding adolescent Psychology among scholars, those in the field, and others

who wish to know more about psychology. According to Williams (2019), one of the biggest

challenges currently is effectively treating and caring for youth with psychiatric disorders.

Despite the increasing information and knowledge surrounding adolescent psychology,

complications still arise when it comes to treating disorders in children as some training

approaches, or means of approaching psychiatric disorders in adolescents, have been found to be

insufficient for behavior change, claimed by Williams (2019). Some individuals within the

discourse community have made it a goal to find new methods of treating disorders among

children.

Intercommunication within the community of adolescent psychology is another crucial

aspect of the discourse. One of the main ways that people in this group share ideas and

communicate is through studies and published texts. The DSM-5 is one of the main texts used in

this field, but there are countless studies and published writings that also further the conversation

and allow for more information to be shared surrounding a plethora of different topics within

child psychology. “The use of ambulatory assessment (AA) and related methods (experience

sampling, ecological momentary assessment) has greatly increased within the field of adolescent

psychology” (Van Roekel, 2019). These methods of gathering research samples and compiling

information related to the field is another very important aspect of intercommunication in this

community. Those in the community also often work together to further the discussion of the

topic as well. Many of the sources used for this assessment are authored by multiple people,

proving as an example of people working together to compile information surrounding the topic.

Vocabulary in this community is an essential part of the discourse in adolescent

psychology. When experts converse about subjects in the field, there tend to be words that
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recirculate often in discussion. In the conversation of adolescent psychology, most of the words

that are often used can be found in the DSM-5. One of the words that comes up frequently in the

topic of adolescent psychology is ‘disorder.’ “According to the DSM-5, a mental disorder

reflects biological, developmental, or psychological dysfunction that causes disability or distress

in the individual” (Weis, 2020, p. 6). In order to study how diseases present themselves and can

be treated, the definition of what a disorder is has to first be explained. “Each DSM-5 disorder is

defined by the presence of specific signs and symptoms. A sign is an overt feature of disorder,

whereas a symptom is a subjective experience associated with a disorder” (Weis, 2020, p. 6). In

this context, the words ‘sign’ and ‘symptom’ are defined in context to how they interact with the

discussion of psychology. Different fields of science may use these terms in different ways,

making this vocabulary unique to psychology.

With written and spoken communication being at the forefront of adolescent psychology,

it can be viewed and analyzed as a discourse community. Utilizing a vocabulary unique to the

field, people who are involved in this community seek to further understand how to best study,

approach, and treat disorders in adolescents and children. Through studies, conversations,

writings about the topic, and many other forms of communication, those in the field advance

their knowledge about the topic and further the discussion.

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References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

(5th ed.).

Kali Orchard, Cesar Cruz, Erica Z. Shoemaker, Donald M. Hilty, A Survey Comparing Adult and

Child Psychiatry Trainees, Faculty, and Program Directors’ Perspectives About

Telepsychiatry: Implications for Clinical Care and Training, Journal of Technology in

Behavioral Science, 10.1007/s41347-020-00187-y, (2021).

Skokauskas, N., Fung, D., Flaherty, L. T., Von Klitzing, K., Pūras, D., Servili, C., ... & Guerrero,

A. (2019). Shaping the future of child and adolescent psychiatry. Child and adolescent

psychiatry and mental health, 13(1), 1-7.

van Roekel, E., Keijsers, L., & Chung, J. M. (2019). A review of current ambulatory assessment

studies in adolescent samples and practical recommendations. Journal of Research on

Adolescence, 29(3), 560-577.

Weis, R. (2020). Introduction to abnormal child and adolescent psychology. Sage publications
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Williams, N. J., & Beidas, R. S. (2019). Annual research review: The state of implementation

science in child psychology and psychiatry: A review and suggestions to advance the

field. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(4), 430-450.