Preschool children have been largely neglected in the mental health
treatment literature, although research has established that many
behavioral and emotional disorders in children result from events
occurring during the preschool years or are first manifested during this
period. This has occurred for several reasons. Traditional
psychoanalytic thinking has considered preschoolers to be too
psychologically immature for complete manifestations of psychopathology,
and the limited language abilities of young children have complicated
assessment procedures and made them less appropriate for treatment
approaches that are largely verbal in nature. In addition, the
developmental complexity of the preschool period has deterred many
researchers from investigating clinical issues with this age group.
Partly as a result of the lack of information on preschoolers in the
literature, practitioners have historically been uncomfortable in
conduct- ing assessments and initiating treatment with young children.
They have often adopted a "wait and see" attitude in which formal mental
health diagnosis and treatment are not implemented until after the
child's entry into school. Unfortunately, such a delay may mean wasting
the time during which mental health interventions can be maximally
effective. Recently, this attitude has changed and practitioners now
recognize the need for assessment and treatment of behavioral and
emotional disorders early in life. What they require to assist them in
the timely delivery of such services is information about assessment and
treatment procedures specifically designed for preschoolers and with
demonstrated efficacy with that age group.
