| Course | D347 Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Care of Children and Adolescents Across Care Settings |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 1 |
| Paper type | Child psychiatric developmental assessment |
| Length | About 800 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for D347 Task 1
Developmental Assessment: A 9-Year-Old Who Has Missed Eleven School Days Since October Because of Morning Stomachaches
Student Name
Leavitt School of Health, Western Governors University
D347: Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Care of Children and Adolescents, Task 1
Course Instructor
Month Day, Year
Developmental Assessment: A 9-Year-Old Who Has Missed Eleven School Days Since October Because of Morning Stomachaches
Identifying Information and Informants
The patient is a composite 9-year-old girl in fourth grade, referred by her pediatrician after a normal medical evaluation for recurrent morning stomachaches and headaches. Informants: her mother and father together, her teacher by a standardized form and a phone call with parental consent, and the child herself, interviewed alone for part of the visit. Each account is recorded separately below.
Development and Health
Born at term after an uncomplicated pregnancy; walked at 12 months and spoke in sentences by age 2. No developmental delays or special education history. Reading and math at grade level on the most recent state testing. Growth along the 60th percentile for height and weight. Pediatric evaluation last month, including a complete blood count, metabolic panel, celiac screen and urinalysis, was normal; stomachaches never occur on weekends or holidays and do not wake her at night. No medications. Immunizations up to date.
Parents' Account
Since October she has missed 11 school days and arrived late on 8 others. Most school mornings begin with a stomachache or headache, crying and pleading to stay home; on some days she vomits once. Symptoms ease by mid-morning if she stays home. She has become clingy at bedtime and asks to sleep in her parents' bed. She worries aloud that something will happen to her mother while she is at school. This began after her maternal grandmother, who lived with the family, died in late summer. The parents admit they have let her stay home when she is very upset because 'we couldn't bear seeing her like that.' Her mother works from home, which makes staying home easy. Father travels for work two nights a week. No marital conflict, substance use or violence in the home by their report.
Teacher's Account
Her teacher describes a capable, kind student who participates well once settled. On days she arrives, she often visits the nurse's office before lunch asking to call home. She avoids speaking in front of the class but has two close friends. The teacher has noticed no bullying, attention problems or learning difficulty. On a brief classroom behavior questionnaire, the teacher rated worry about being away from family and requests to go home as frequent, and rated attention, behavior and peer relationships as typical.
Child's Account
Interviewed alone with a drawing activity, she said school is 'okay' and she likes art and recess. Her worry is that 'Mom could get sick like Grandma' while she is away. Her stomach 'goes tight' on the bus. She denies anyone hurting her at school or home, denies wishing she were dead or wanting to hurt herself, and says she sleeps better in her parents' room. On SCARED (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders), child report form, her total score was 34, with the separation anxiety subscale at 11; a total score of 25 or more suggests the presence of an anxiety disorder (Birmaher et al., 1999).
Observation
She separated from her parents for the individual interview only after her mother promised to wait outside the door, and checked the door twice. Once engaged, she was talkative and drew her family including her grandmother. Speech and language were age appropriate; attention was sustained through a 20-minute activity; mood was anxious when separation was discussed and bright otherwise; no signs of thought disorder.
Formulation
The pattern is consistent with separation anxiety disorder presenting as school avoidance: developmentally inappropriate fear of separation from attachment figures with worry about harm to them, reluctance to go to school because of separation, sleep refusal away from parents and physical complaints on school days, lasting more than four weeks and impairing school attendance (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). The death of a grandmother who lived in the home is the likely precipitant. Allowing her to stay home relieves distress in the short term but maintains avoidance, and a parent working from home makes that easy. Differential considerations: generalized anxiety disorder (worries are focused on separation, not many areas); social anxiety disorder (mild performance avoidance only, with friendships intact); depression and prolonged grief (sadness about her grandmother without a lasting drop in mood or in enjoyment of activities); bullying or school trauma (not reported by child or teacher); and a medical cause, excluded by the pediatric evaluation. Strengths include a warm family, good academic skills, friendships and a teacher willing to help. Gathering accounts from parents, teacher and child separately and using a validated rating scale follows current guidance for assessing anxiety in children (Walter et al., 2020).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Birmaher, B., Brent, D. A., Chiappetta, L., Bridge, J., Monga, S., & Baugher, M. (1999). Psychometric properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): A replication study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(10), 1230-1236. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199910000-00011
Walter, H. J., Bukstein, O. G., Abright, A. R., Keable, H., Ramtekkar, U., Ripperger-Suhler, J., & Rockhill, C. (2020). Clinical practice guideline for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(10), 1107-1124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.05.005
What the D347 Task 1 instructions ask
The first D347 task asks you to assess a child or adolescent with attention to development and multiple informants. Most versions ask for identifying information, developmental and health history, accounts from caregivers, school and the young person, direct observation and a formulation. Evaluators look for information gathered from several sources, each reported in its own voice, and for methods suited to the child's age, such as play or drawing for younger children. The formulation should explain how the findings fit a diagnosis and why developmental norms were considered. An assessment built only on the parents' report will not meet the multiple-informant aspects. Some versions also ask for rating scales from each informant.
How this D347 Task 1 example is built
The assessment begins with who referred the child and who provided information. Developmental and health history show typical milestones and a normal medical workup, which rules out obvious causes. The parents', teacher's and child's accounts are kept in separate sections so differences between them are visible. The child's account is gathered through an age-appropriate activity and quoted. Observation records how she separated from her mother, which is direct evidence rather than report. The formulation connects the pattern to diagnostic criteria and to the grandmother's death, and notes the rating scale that supports it. The structure makes the next task, a family-centered plan, straightforward. The child's words are quoted directly, which gives her perspective its own weight.
Where the D347 Task 1 rubric puts the marks
D347 Task 1 aspects are each marked competent, approaching competence or not evident. A history aspect checks for developmental and health information. Informant aspects reward separate accounts from caregivers, school and the young person. An observation aspect looks for direct observation with specific detail. A formulation aspect wants findings connected to diagnostic criteria with developmental context. Evaluators notice age-appropriate methods and respectful language about the child and family. Rating scales, where used, should be named and cited, and diagnostic references should be current. Assessments that reconcile differences between informants, rather than ignoring them, tend to earn full credit. Evaluators also check that the formulation explains why medical causes were ruled out first.
D347 Task 1 help: what sends it back
Child assessments come back most often when only one informant is used. Include the school and the child, not just the parents. Second, the child's voice is missing or summarized. Quote her and describe how you gathered it. Third, developmental context is skipped. Show that behavior is outside what is expected for age. Fourth, the formulation names a diagnosis without explaining why alternatives, such as a medical cause or a learning problem, are less likely. Finally, keep observation separate from report. What you saw during the visit is strong evidence and deserves its own section. Describe the child with the same respect you would want for yourself.
Get a D347 Task 1 example written to your instructions
Send the D347 Task 1 instructions and rubric aspects from your course of study, plus the age range or referral question your task specifies. We build a composite example to those aspects, with development, caregivers and school all doing work, and return it in 24-48h. The first custom sample is free.
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D347 Task 1 questions, answered
How much developmental history is enough?
Enough that every later interpretation has something to stand on. Pregnancy and birth, early milestones, language and motor development, temperament, early care arrangements and any disruption to them normally earn their place. History that is collected and then never referenced is the usual sign of too much, or of a summary written without a purpose.
What if the caregiver and the young person disagree?
Keep both accounts and say what the difference tells you. Adolescents often report internal states their caregivers cannot see, while caregivers see patterns across settings that a young person does not notice. Recording the disagreement, and naming which source is better placed for which kind of information, reads as clinical judgment rather than as an inconsistency.
Can the example use a young person from my placement?
No, and neither should your submission without care. Every young person in our examples is composite, assembled from typical presentations rather than taken from a record. Children are easier to identify from small details than adults, so ages, family structure, school details and timing all have to change before anything from placement appears in written work.
How much developmental history is enough for D347?
Enough to show whether development has been typical and to rule out causes that would change the formulation. The sample records milestones, school history and a normal medical evaluation.
Where can I find a free D347 Task 1 sample paper?
The complete developmental assessment is published above with notes. Send the D347 instructions with your case and informants, and the first tailored assessment is written for you free.