Screenings are standard tests and tools to spot early signs of health issues. We provide mental health screenings across your lifetime. There are screenings for different cognitive and behavioral health issues for kids, teens, pregnant women, and older adults.

Screenings you and your kids may get include:

• During an annual exam, you may answer questions about your mood, thinking, behavior, memory, and substance use.
• As you get older, you may have your memory and cognition tested. These screens look for signs of mental decline, including dementia.
• During well-baby and well-child visits, your child’s doctor will check their development with screens.
• Newborns get a neonatal behavioral assessment (the Brazelton scale). It checks their responses to stimuli such as moving a ball or rattle.
• Before, during, and after pregnancy, doctors screen women for mental health issues, like perinatal depression.

If screenings show that you're at risk of a mental or behavioral health issue or your child isn’t meeting their milestones, the next step is often in-depth psychological testing. If physical problems with your brain or nerves may be the cause, you may need blood work, a neurological exam, or brain scans.

A psychological assessment is a tool to diagnose what’s going on with your mental and behavioral health.

During an assessment, your care team will:

• Review your screening results
• Go over your symptoms
• Ask about your family health history
• Conduct specific psychological testing

Psychological tests are questions and tools we use to measure and diagnose mental and behavioral health issues. There are tests for many specific conditions.

These tests measure your:

• Emotions, attitudes, and how you experience, express, and control them
• Mental skills that enable you to think, learn, and complete daily tasks
• Intelligence and aptitude, your natural ability to do things
• Personality, interests, and values

Who needs psychological testing?

We do these tests when you have a medical issue related to mental health issues, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, or stroke. We also do them if you have reasons, like a positive screening test or symptoms, to suspect a mental or behavioral health issue.

You or your child may need testing if:

• You or your child think you may have a mental health condition
• A mental health screening finds signs of an issue
• You have new or ongoing signs or symptoms

Our experts provide mental and behavioral health tests for children, teens, and adults. They use a wide variety of screenings, tests, and assessments. The ones they use during your psychological assessment differ based on the specific issues they’re trying to test or diagnose.

They may include:

• Cognitive tests to assess memory, attention, problem-solving, and overall brain function
• Emotional tests to diagnose depression, anxiety, or mood disorders
• Assessments of personality traits and the possibility of related mental health evaluations
• Assessment of behavior problems, developmental disorders, and social functioning
• Tests to measure the impact of substance use and physiological responses

Child development testing

The experts in our Child Development Clinic test kids’ mental health and cognitive abilities. These tests allow us to diagnose issues and plan care tailored to your child. Many tests done with young children look like play activities. They may ask your child to stack blocks, find hidden objects, or do puzzles.

Examples of testing on kids include neurodevelopment assessments. These tests are for fine and gross motor, cognitive, speech, and language delays. We may also use the adaptive behavior assessment system. This tests for autism, developmental delays, and intellectual or learning differences.

When a doctor refers you or your child for in-depth mental health testing, it’s common to feel scared, embarrassed, or even like you don’t want to “fail.” But an assessment is for your own good.

There’s no shame in learning more about yourself and better understanding your own brain. Having a name for an issue you’ve been struggling with may even be helpful.

During an assessment, you’ll go through a variety of tests. They may involve sitting and talking with a clinician. Answering questions or filling out a questionnaire and discussing your answers. To help us make the right diagnosis, you must provide honest and complete answers.

Getting through all the discussions and tests may take a few hours.

If the testing is for your child, you’ll need to answer questions about their behavior. They may ask you to keep notes on your child’s behavior.