Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Sleep disorders are very common and are often underrecognized and underreported in children. If left untreated, these disorders can cause serious developmental and physiologic problems.

The continuation of the epidemic of childhood obesity and overweight has major implications and consequences for future research in psychopathology.

Infant, or developmental, psychiatry is a subspecialty of child and adolescent psychiatry that focuses on the promotion of mental health in infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families through the consultation, assessment, and treatment of clinical problems.

Current treatments for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are useful in some cases, but have little enduring impact. This had lead to many parents seeking nonconventional treatments that often border on quackery.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for children with anxiety disorders may be especially effective when the family is included in treatment.

autism, mirror neuron defect

A black box warning about increased suicidality in pediatric patients is now required for all antidepressant medications. This column reviews a number of studies on this topic that were published after the FDA advisory was issued.

Evidence-Based Therapies in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by Jon McClellan, M.D. Given the lack of large, randomized controlled studies of psychiatric medications that involve children and adolescents, it can be difficult to establish evidence-based therapies that are effective for this population. However, there are studies that have shown the effectiveness of various medications, as well as for various psychotherapy techniques.

Antiepilepsy drug use in children presents special challenges because, unlike adults, treatment-emergent neuropsychological deficits occur against the backdrop of cognitive and psychosocial development, with treatment decisions having lifelong implications.

This article will provide an overview of treatment modalities, with emphasis on the future direction of interventions targeting aggression in children with autism.

Treating bipolar disorder in young patients can often result in aggravation, irritability or even reactivation depending on the type of medication used. What are typical examples of medication-induced rebound and what are the implications of these types of responses in children?

In an attempt to reframe the either-or debate over the impact of genetics versus environment on emotional makeup, a panel convened at the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Winter 2005 Meeting in New York City. This article highlights studies presented at the meeting.

Autism is a highly prevalent, highly heterogeneous disorder of unknown etiology. Studies to clearly establish the efficacy of various classes of psychoactive drugs are scarce. Nonetheless, available findings do support the efficacy of atypical antipsychotics and antidepressants in treating the core symptoms of repetitive behavior.

Bipolar disorder in children is particularly difficult to treat. A treatment algorithm combining pharmacology with psychotherapy in order to get optimal results is presented.

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children remains controversial. One of the more disturbing facets of its presentation in such young patients is the presence of hypersexual behavior. How can these behaviors be differentiated from the effects of abuse and other psychiatric disorders?

With the increase in child and adolescent patients comes an increase in challenging cases. Dr. Schowalter introduces this Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Special Report and provides perspective on articles discussing approaches to initiating care with a teen-ager, collaborating with pediatricians and other clinical topics.

Many children today are receiving inadequate mental health care due to a decrease in the number of well-trained providers, while the prevalence of children's mental health problems is increasing. Legislation is pending in the U.S. House and Senate to address these issues.

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry will hold its 50th anniversary meeting in October, but the field can trace its U.S. origins to Chicago in 1899. Learn how the specialty has developed over the years in this historical essay.

Stereotypical portrayals of people with mental illness are as old as Hollywood itself. What are some of the clinical implications of the continued stigmatization of the mentally ill in television and film?

Literature invites readers to see the world from another viewpoint, which can, in turn, lead to an increased capacity for empathy. In working with difficult-to-treat children, Alexandra Helper, MD, has found that the use of literature that focuses on alternative viewpoints helps such patients develop empathy and improve their functioning in the "real world."

Although there is no pharmacological agent that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of autism, new studies are showing promise in not only discovering the cause of autism, but pharmacological treatments as well.

Repetitive self-injury can be one of the more difficult conditions to treat. What is the biochemical basis for self-injury and how can psychiatrists treat this condition?

Bipolar disorder (BD) in children and adolescents is severe and has significant adverse effects on academic, social and family functioning. The high rate of relapse and suicide attempts in youth with BD makes effective treatment essential.

Recently, in reviewing a particularly complicated case with a representative of a managed care company, I was told that I was the only child psychiatrist in the country who could not come up with a diagnosis in one session.

Every year, more than half of newly approved drugs and biologics considered likely to be prescribed for children lack labeling information on safe and effective use. Seeking to rectify this situation, the FDA recently issued final regulations requiring new drugs and biologics that are therapeutically important for children or will be commonly used in children to have labeling information on safe pediatric use.

Previous research on the effects of early child care had led to controversy and confusion. The most provocative finding was that when infants were in nonmaternal child care 20 or more hours a week, starting in the first year of life, they were less likely than infants without such experience to form a secure emotional attachment to their mothers.

In 1988 I was working as a general adult psychiatrist with a specialty in addictions. One day, a newly referred patient came to my office accompanied by his mother. Although he was well groomed, he was distinctly "nerdy." When I inquired about his chief complaint, his mother quickly explained that, although he had graduated from community college, he was unable to secure a job interview due to his obsessing on the details of his resume.

The past decade witnessed major strides in our understanding and treatment of affective disorders in adults, children and adolescents. One of the baffling problems in child and adolescent psychiatry was the question of psychiatric illness spanning a lifetime. The existence of depressive disorders in prepubertal children has been generally recognized and acknowledged since the 1960s; however, only in the last decade did evidence become available that supports the notion that depression in different ages represents the same entity, albeit manifesting different clinical symptoms in each developmental period (Cytryn and others 1986).