Reflecting on what ‘you said’ as a way of reintroducing difficult topics in child mental health assessments

Abstract

Background In child and adolescent mental health assessments, questions are integral to the process. There has been limited research focused on the assessment process, or on how questions are constructed within this clinical environment. Methods We examined 28 naturally occurring initial assessments, with particular attention to how practitioners used questions in their communication with children and young people. We utilised conversation analysis to examine the data. Results Analysis revealed a particular type of question preface used to reintroduce a prior topic. This was achieved through the use of ‘you said x’ as a foundation for asking a follow-up question and demonstrated active listening. Conclusions Arguably, this approach is a useful way of gathering assessment-relevant information in a child-centred way.