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Briefing to Stakeholder on Developmental Science Tools

Name

Institution

Course

Professor

Date
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Briefing to Stakeholder on Developmental Science Tools: Seeking approval for

screening anxiety symptoms in all students at secondary school entry

Purpose

The aim of this briefing is to look for support to initiate the whole Anxiety screening
project of detecting and handling anxiety symptoms of students who are enrolled in junior
high school. Very many studies in the field of developmental psychopathology have
demonstrated the vital role early detection and intervention play in the prevention of the long-
term negative impacts that anxiety disorders have on student performance in academics.

Critical Analysis

1.1 Current Policy

Now, there is no standardized, comprehensive method of anxiety disorders screening

among students enrolling in a lower secondary school. Whether a school’s Anxiety screening
process is just an improvised solution or based on teachers’ observations and informal
assessments, the lack of a systemized Anxiety screening process often postpones diagnosis
and treatment of mental health issues. This can further marginalize students who already
suffer from anxiety, thus resulting in educational failure, social isolation, low self-esteem,
complex psychological problems that might continue from childhood into adulthood.
Research has shown that anxiety disorders are among the common conditions affecting
mental health of children and adolescents (Racine et al., 2021). Without treatment, they
would cause far-ranging effects which include affected cognitive functioning, many
difficulties in developing and maintaining personal relationships and increased risk of co-
morbid conditions like depression and substance abuse (Carrigan & Barkus, 2016).

Not having a standard Anxiety screening protocol in place can incite stigmatization
and missing point about mental health concerns. Therefore, not treating anxiety disorders in a
timely manner may cause the students to feel isolated, ignored, or undeserved due to
prevailing stigma on mental issues (Wilson, 2020). However, the current situation where
different types of anxiety symptoms are being treated randomly may lead to inequalities in
receiving resources and support services. Undoutedly, the transition from elementary to high
school is a developmental milestone, especially for students with social and personality
disorders, such as anxiety. The lack of an adequate Anxiety screening and support
mechanism could result in problems with studies, social detachment and even more severe
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challenge connecting with happiness and development. The transition from primary school to
secondary school is a developmental milestone that can be very anxiety-provoking for
students, this especially if they already have an anxiety disorder (Loke & Lowe, 2014). If
there is no proper Anxiety screening and support system for these students, they may have a
difficult time academically, socially and their long term general well-being and development
can be negatively affected.

1.2 New Policy

The plan is to have a totally based on evidence anxiolytic screening program that will
be administered to the high school first-graders. The Anxiety screening will include the
application of proven and age-related questionnaires that can either be Spence Children’
Anxiety Scale (SCS) and Revised Children’ Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)
(Donnelly et al., 2018; Jalali et al., 2020). As per evaluation findings, acceptable
interventions will be offered that may involve individual, group counseling, cognitive-
behavioral therapy (CBT), parent training as well as referrals to external mental health
services (Powers et al., 2017). A large number of studies have confirmed the effectiveness of
CBT, together with other evidence-based treatments, in diminishing the symptoms of anxiety
in children and youth and improving functioning. Through timely and targeted interventions,
students will be given the coping skills that would be effective, strengthen their resilience,
and prevent anxiety disorders to move from minor to chronic. With each school and district
administering a different Anxiety screening program, a lack of standardization has led to a
wide gap in how anxiety issues are identified and resolved.

Other schools might rely wholly on teacher or parent referrals, while some other
schools may use general mental health checklists or questionnaires that are not actually
designed to screen anxiety symptoms. The existing fragmented method of identification
usually fails to identify the whole spectrum of the anxiety disorders that manifest themselves
either in outward behavior or in severe conditions. At the same time, subtle or internalized
manifestations can be overlooked. This may give rise to a great underestimation of the spread
and the power of anxiety disorders found in students. Another problem that the new policy
deals with is the absence of clear directives as far as the follow-up procedures and
developmental interventions when a student is diagnosed with anxiety symptoms.

Stakeholders

Different stakeholders are affected by the new policy in different ways as indicated below:
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Students

 Anxiety can be treated at an early age before it begins to have adverse effects on
academic achievement.
 Students, who have signs of anxiety, will be provided with the proper care,
counseling, and therapy.
 Proper care can prevent small anxiety systems from developing into major problems.

Parents/Families

 The Anxiety screening programme makes the students to be aware of and desensitized
to mental disorders such as anxiety.
 Parents of students showing such signs of anxiety can get their children the necessary
help and support on time.

Teachers

 Teachers will adhere to the systematic evidence-based Anxiety screening for such
assessments instead of informal ones.
 School personnel including mental health workers will have to assess students and
administer necessary treatment.
 This relieves the teachers from having to solely diagnose and treat the cases of anxiety
among the students.

Schools/Districts

 Eliminates the current approach to establishing Anxiety screening protocol across

schools.
 Maintains practice guidelines of developmental science in Anxiety screening.
 Gives clear guidance on further steps and possible interventions after the Anxiety
screening process.
 May need extra funds for Anxiety screening instruments, staff development, and
treatments.

Recommendations

1. Introduction of an Anxiety screening program for anxiety symptoms for all

students entering our secondary schools.
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The approach is preventive and it corresponds with the best practices in developmental
science and may produce important results concerning the students’ mental health, academic
performance, social functioning and generally the well-being of the children.

2. Enable early diagnosis of students’ anxiety symptoms and providing them with
needed assistance and resources.

By taking the above action, students can be able to develop effective coping strategies that
create resilience to stop the issue from escalating to severe mental health conditions.
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References

Carrigan, N., & Barkus, E. (2016). A systematic review of the relationship between
psychological disorders or substance use and self-reported cognitive
failures. Cognitive neuropsychiatry, 21(6), 539-564.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13546805.2016.1250620

Donnelly, A., Fitzgerald, A., Shevlin, M., & Dooley, B. (2018). Investigating the
psychometric properties of the revised child anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) in
a non-clinical sample of Irish adolescents. Journal of Mental Health.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/shareview/10.1080/09638237.2018.1437604

Jalali, M., Mahmoodi, H., & Pourahmadi Esfestani, E. (2020). Spence children’s anxiety
scale through parent report: Psychometric properties in a community sample of
Iranian children. Journal of Research in Psychopathology, 1(2), 40-48.
https://jrp.uma.ac.ir/article_1087.html

Loke, S. W., & Lowe, P. (2014). Development and validation of the interpersonal school
transition anxiety scale for use among fourth-to sixth-grade students. Social Work
Research, 38(4), 211-221.
https://academic.oup.com/swr/article-abstract/38/4/211/2332395

Powers, M. B., de Kleine, R. A., & Smits, J. A. (2017). Core mechanisms of cognitive
behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression: A review. Psychiatric Clinics, 40(4),
611-623. https://www.psych.theclinics.com/article/S0193-953X(17)30078-3/abstract

Racine, N., McArthur, B. A., Cooke, J. E., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021). Global
prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents during
COVID-19: a meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics, 175(11), 1142-1150.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2782796

Wilson, A. (2020). Teachers On The Front Line: Supporting Students with Anxiety and
Depression. https://scholar.dominican.edu/education-masters-theses/16/