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Discourse Analysis Adolescent Psychology Revision
Discourse Analysis Adolescent Psychology Revision
Zoe Martindale
February 2, 2022
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
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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
involved in the conversation concerning the mental health of adolescents and the matter in which
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.
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
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.
complications still arise when it comes to treating disorders in children as some training
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.
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.
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
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,
With written and spoken communication 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
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
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
van Roekel, E., Keijsers, L., & Chung, J. M. (2019). A review of current ambulatory assessment
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