Cambridge Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – serie

Anorexia Nervosa and other eating disorders are arguably the most complex mental health problems that a child or adolescent may experience. Numbers seeking help are on the increase, and the complexity of these disorders challenges even the most experienced clinician. In this 2006 book, the experience of numerous practitioners with international reputations in the field is brought to bear on the broad range of issues a good clinician needs to know about, from the history of the disorder through to treatment, psychopharmacology, the psychotherapies, epidemiology, comorbidities, eating disorders in boys, and neuroimaging. The book is divided into parts detailing the scientific underpinnings, abnormal states, the evidence base for treatments, and finally public health issues, including service delivery models and perspectives on prognosis and outcomes. Clinicians encountering eating disorders will find this latest addition to the Cambridge Child and Adolescent Psychiatry series invaluable.

In an epoch when rates of death and illness among the young have steadily decreased in the face of medical progress, the persistently high rates of youth suicide and suicide attempts around the world remain a tragic irony and a challenge to both our clinical practice and theoretical understanding. How can these deaths be prevented? Can they be anticipated? Are there perceptible patterns of risk and vulnerability? What role do families, gender, culture, and biology play? What are the treatments for and outcomes of suicide attempters? To address these questions, experts from around the world in all areas of psychiatry, from epidemiology, neurobiology, genetics and psychotherapy, have brought together their current findings in Suicide in Children and Adolescents.

The field of child and adolescent psychopharmacology is rapidly growing, but psychopharmacological treatments for children cannot be straightforwardly extrapolated from adult studies, which presents clinicians with assessment and prescribing challenges. This important book synthesises research findings about drug treatment of a broad range of psychiatric disorders in children, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar mania, aggression in pervasive developmental disorder, Tourette's syndrome and substance abuse. They examine the issues of tolerability and efficacy, and appropriate use, within a social and developmental context. For each disorder, pharmacotherapy is discussed in the wider context of neurobiology, etiology, diagnosis and treatment. This will be essential reading for all mental health professionals to inform practice and improve patient outcomes.

The assessment of specific learning disabilities and disorders (SLD) has long been controversial. Definitions, diagnosis and treatments have been vigorously debated for decades, with the use of IQ tests attracting particular controversy. However, in recent times there have been many other new assessment tools devised for measuring intelligence and neuropsychological functioning, extending well beyond the scope of Wechsler's scales. In this cutting-edge survey, an international team of leaders in the field examines the available methods. Many of the contributors are themselves the developers of the most recent assessment tests. The authors of each chapter evaluate the diversity of clinical applications of these new instruments in SLD, and their important implications for educational intervention. The historical context and the underlying neuropsychological and cognitive theory are also expertly examined. This book will be essential reading for any practitioner or trainee dealing with specific learning issues in young people.

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. This fully revised new edition is an authoritative guide to the understanding and assessment of anxiety disorders in the young. The first section covers historical and conceptual issues, including cognitive and developmental processes, clinical and theoretical models, phenomenology and classification, and evidence-based assessment. Subsequent sections cover the biology of child and adolescent anxiety, and environmental influences including traumatic events, parenting and the impact of the peer group. The final section addresses prevention and treatment of anxiety. All chapters incorporate new advances in the field, explicitly differentiate between children and adolescents, and incorporate a developmental perspective. Written and edited by an international team of leading experts in the field, this is a key text for researchers, practitioners, students and clinical trainees with interests in child and adolescent anxiety.

Conduct disorders are very common and the most frequent reason for clinical referrals to child and adolescent mental health facilities. Aggression and oppositional behaviour in youth often becomes persistent, and substantially increases the likelihood of adult problems of criminality, unstable relationships, psychiatric disorder, and harsh parenting. This comprehensive book by leading clinicians and researchers reviews established and emerging aspects of conduct disorder. It highlights the complexity and probable heterogeneity of the condition, including the biological, neuropsychological, and cognitive factors, and the role of attachment and family influences. Preventive and treatment approaches and outcomes are reviewed, with developmental and gender-based variations emphasized throughout. Integrating findings from a wide range of research perspectives, this is a uniquely authoritative survey of a common clinical and social problem, and will be essential reading for mental health practitioners and others with clinical, sociological or medicolegal interests in child health and behaviour.

Building on the success of the first edition and addressing the advances in the field since its publication, Seija Sandberg has brought together a distinguished, international team to review the area of attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) in children and young adults. This 2002 edition was thoroughly revised and updated. Some chapters, such as those dealing with the genetic background and the adult form of the disorder, were completely new, and some of the areas dealt with in the first edition are being covered by new authors in the second. The writers are among the world's leading experts, both researchers and clinicians, in the area. This will be essential reading for all professionals involved in the management and care of people with ADHD.

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition an international, interdisciplinary team of mental health experts draw together more recent research in the psychopathology of depression in young people. Combining theory and practice, the psychological, neurochemical and genetic causes are discussed and an account of the clinical characteristics and frequency of the condition is given. The key questions are fully addressed: the importance of life events and difficulties in the onset and continuation of depression; the efficacy of current psychological therapies and the role of medication; how depressed young people progress into adult life, and how depression arises and the effects it may exert on brain and behaviour during this crucial developmental period. This book will appeal to child psychiatrists and psychologists, developmental psychologists, neuroscientists and mental health professionals in clinical services.

The earlier in life schizophrenia manifests itself, the poorer the long-term prognosis, and although it is very difficult to diagnose in the young, early treatment is now thought to improve outcome. Recent research also suggests that early onset schizophrenia has developmental precursors, making it difficult to distinguish from a number of other developmental disorders. In this timely book, an international team of psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychologists give an up-to-date review of the latest findings in the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia in children and adolescents to give a comprehensive account of the current state of knowledge and the therapeutic options available to clinicians. They examine the disorder from developmental and clinical perspectives, with a focus on diagnosis, etiology, therapy and rehabilitation. This book is essential reading for all mental health professionals who treat young people with schizophrenia.

Edited by two leading authorities and written by a team of international experts in the field, this book describes the causes, course and treatment of a variety of developmental and genetic disorders, including attention-deficit disorder, fragile X syndrome and the autistic spectrum disorders. There is a particular focus on the course of disorders over time, and outcome in adulthood. Outcome is an area often overlooked in other books about developmental disorders, but is an issue of great importance to parents and carers and one that has important implications for education, health, social and employment services. As well as providing succinct and up-to-date summaries of the most recent research, the authors give clinicians practical guidelines for intervention and management with children and young adults. This book is essential reading for clinicians and psychologists, and anyone working with or caring for children with special educational needs.