Detecting and managing developmental and behavioral problems in infants and young children - The potential role of the DSM-PC

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC), Child and Adolescent Version, provides a comprehensive method to facilitate professional recognition, management, and referral of a wide spectrum of children's behavioral and developmental problems, as well as stressful situations. This article describes the utility of the DSM-PC for a multidisciplinary group of practitioners who work with infants and young children. Four areas of potential application of the DSM-PC are described: (1) diagnosis and management of problems that are specific to infants and young children; (2) description of environmental stressors; (3) description of developmental variation and change in infant problem behaviors; and (4) implications for research concerning infants' behavioral and developmental problems.