VATICAN CITY (CNS) – When children exhibit behavioral problems, doctors and families should consider social and psychological support and not immediately try to address the difficulty with prescription drugs, said a number of speakers at a Vatican conference.

Caution should be used not only because many prescribed medications can cause serious side effects but because often the child’s behavioral problems are rooted in anxiety, stress and other psychological, not biological, causes, many speakers said.

Pediatricians, pharmacologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, ethicists and members of religious orders active in the field of health care were among the dozens of speakers at an international meeting hosted by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.

Speakers at the conference, “The Child as a Person and as a Patient: Therapeutic Approaches Compared,” presented their findings and preferred practices for dealing with disturbed, distressed or troubled children and adolescents.

Several speakers noted an increase, especially in North America and parts of Europe, in the use of anti-depressants and so-called psychotropic medications for children who have been diagnosed with depression or who exhibit hyperactive, anti-social or aggressive behavior.

Jacqueline Sparks, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s department of human development and family studies, said prescription rates of anti-psychotics have “dramatically increased” in the U.S.

Worse hit are poorer or vulnerable children who receive Medicaid and have seen a “seven- to 12-fold increase,” she said.