title: Approaching the adolescent patient. Pitfalls and solutions.
abstract: Over the last three decades, there has been increasing interest in adolescent health care. However, although appreciation of adolescent development and pathology has grown, a crucial topic has been neglected--the influence of the physician's underlying attitudes on his or her treatment of adolescent patients. This review discusses four potential pitfalls in the physician's approach to the adolescent patient: cultural stereotypes, generalization of expertise, countertransference, and professional narcissism. Case presentations illustrate the problems inherent in these areas. Finally, practical solutions to these problems are presented through a systematic approach to an adolescent's office visit, including the use of interviewing techniques, questionnaires, and figure drawings.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000295:Adolescent Medicine; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001828:Body Image; D003379:Countertransference; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D009289:Narcissism; D009819:Office Visits; D010808:Physical Examination; D011247:Pregnancy; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires