Psychological Assessment of Emotional Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents

Anthony Bram, PhD, ABAP, FABP, is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Lexington, MA, where he conducts psychological assessment, psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy, and psychoanalysis with children and adults. Dr. Bram is a part-time Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School and is on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (BPSI), where he also serves as vice chair of the Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Training Program. He received his doctorate from the University of Kansas and is a graduate of the two-year Post-Doctoral Training Program at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, where he was subsequently a staff psychologist. Dr. Bram completed adult psychoanalytic training at the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute, and child analytic training at BPSI. Dr. Bram is a board-certified diplomate in Assessment Psychology and in Child/Adolescent Psychoanalysis, and he has been a recipient of a fellowship from the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Martin Mayman Award (two times) from the Society for Personality Assessment, Scientific Writing Award from the Menninger Clinic, the Biannual Award for Research in Psychological Assessment from Psychodiagnostics, Inc., and the Johanna Tabin Book Proposal Prize from Division 39 (Psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association. His first book, coauthored with Mary Jo Peebles, Psychological Testing that Matters: Creating a Road Map for Effective Treatment was published by APA Books in 2014. He also co-edited with Jed Yalof the book Psychoanalytic Assessment Applications for Different Settings published in 2021.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Way of Thinking About Psychological Assessment of Emotional Regulation and Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents
I. BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
1. Emotional Regulation and Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents: What Are We Assessing?
2. Emotional Dysregulation, the Bipolar Spectrum, and Assessment Considerations With Children and Adolescents
II. EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION AND THE BIPOLAR SPECTRUM: MULTIMETHOD, DIMENSIONAL, AND DIVERSITY-SENSITIVE ASSESSMENT
3. Basic Rationale for and Principles of Multimethod, Dimensional, and Diversity-Sensitive Assessment
4. Collateral-Report Measures to Assess Emotional Dysregulation
5. Self-Report Measures to Assess Emotional Dysregulation
6. Performance-Based Measures and Methods to Assess Emotional Dysregulation
III. EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION AND THE BIPOLAR SPECTRUM: DSM-5-TR DIFFERENTIAL AND CO-OCCURRING DIAGNOSES
7. Orienting to Differential Diagnosis Within and Beyond the Bipolar Spectrum
8. Either/Or: Diagnoses Mutually Exclusive With the Bipolar Spectrum
9. And/Or: Conditions to Differentiate From the Bipolar Spectrum or That Co-Occur
10. Conditions More Readily Differentiated From the Bipolar Spectrum But Potentially Co-Occurring
IV. TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR FOLLOW-UP
11. Treatment Implications: Broad Considerations and Level of Care
12. Treatment Modalities
13. Factors Affecting Therapeutic Engagement and Collaboration
14. Implications for School
15. Additional Considerations for Follow-Up Evaluations and Treatment Adjuncts
V. CASE ILLUSTRATIONS
16. Case 1: Denny
17. Case 2: Stevie
18. Case 3: Jillian
19. Case 4: Nicole
20. Case 5: Pedro
21. Commentary on Cases and Concluding Thoughts
References
Index
About the Author