Developmental competency.

Society progressively has been giving children and adolescents a greater degree of autonomy in the decisions affecting their own lives. This increase in responsibility has followed the corresponding increases and awareness of their rights and developmental needs. In this article, a review of the historical development of competency in children is presented. The status of current psychiatric thinking and science is reviewed and the areas of much needed future research are addressed. A general schema is proposed for practical application in balancing parental input with increasing self-control of the child's decisions. Developmental competency of children is a difficult and complex issue that requires careful attention in its assessment.