Childhood Onset of 'Adult' Psychopathology

Psychiatrists are trained to take a thorough history of childhood events when evaluating an adult patient, but few adult psychiatrists have a grasp of what is known about childhood precursors of adult psychiatric illness. We tend to think of depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders as illnesses that arise sometime after age 18 in most patients and rarely understand that the roots of many of these disorders can be found many years earlier. Understanding the ways in which childhood symptoms and predispositions merge into adult psychopathology is critical both for treatment and prevention efforts. It is precisely this understanding at which Childhood Onset of Adult Psychopathology: Clinical and Research Advances is aimed. Edited by one of the world's great scientists and clinicians, Dr. Judith Rapoport, this volume gathers a group of remarkable scientists who grapple with learning about, and teaching us, how childhood is the staging platform for many adult psychiatric disorders. This book is essential reading for all psychiatrists, whether interested in research, clinical care, or both. Jack M. Gorman, M.D., Professor and Vice-chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York A not-so-quiet revolution has been stirring within the ranks of psychiatry over the last decade. Itself a synthesis of exciting new theoretical perspectives and research advances, the revolution promises to recast much of the field of psychiatry into the framework of the developmental neurosciences. This edited volume, assembled by the preeminent researcher in this field, is a critical vanguard of the research and theory supporting the revolution. She has assembled a remarkable, international cast of scholars, whose expertise ranges from molecular genetics, epidemiology, neurobiology, to child psychiatry, all of whom have contributed excellent chapters. Essential reading for child and adult psychiatrists, as well as developmentalists and neuroscientists with interests in developmental psychopathology. Peter S. Jensen, M.D, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Maryland

This book provides an understanding of the childhood onsets of adult psychiatric disorders, including when and in what sequence psychiatric disorders begin in childhood, and how these disorders evolve over the life span. The authors review the data on very early forms of depression, criminality, alcoholism, schizophrenia, and anxiety.

Age at onset studies have been an important approach to understanding disease across all medical specialties. Over the last few decades, genetic research has led to the identification of unique genes and, in some cases, physiologically different disorders. These advances bring us closer to identifying genetic vulnerability and implementing prevention programs for psychopathology.

Childhood Onset of "Adult" Psychopathology: Clinical and Research Advances provides an understanding of the childhood onsets of adult psychiatric disorders, including when and in what sequence psychiatric disorders begin in childhood, and how these disorders evolve over the life span. This book examines

• Studies on the growing volume of data on very early forms of depression, criminality, alcoholism, schizophrenia, and anxiety
• Genetics, evolution, and the significance of age at onset in terms of individual variability and the course of disease
• The biological manner in which early-onset disorders progress
• New insights into the disease etiology of schizophrenia and the neurodevelopmental hypothesis
• The long-debated subject of whether depressive disorder in preadolescent children is the same as depressive disorder in adults and studies of individuals at risk for disorders of anxiety and depression
• The implications for prevention of adult psychiatric disorders, alcoholism, and antisocial personality disorder

Complete with extensive references and tables, this text provides practitioners with a better understanding of adult psychopathology and insight into early detection and prevention methods.