Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Written by leading clinicians and research experts in the fields of child development and psychopathology, this book is an authoritative and up to date guide for psychologists, psychiatrists, paediatricians and other professionals working with vulnerable children. The opening chapters outline neurobiological, genetic, familial and cultural influences upon child development, especially those fostering children's resilience and emotional wellbeing. Discussion of the acquisition of social and emotional developmental competencies leads on to reviews of child psychopathology, clinical diagnoses, assessment and intervention.

Developed with busy professionals and trainees in mind, it is comprehensively yet concisely written, using visual aids to help the reader absorb information rapidly and easily. This book is an essential purchase for those working or training in all clinical and community child settings.

Dr David Skuse is Professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences at the UCL Institute of Child Health, and an Honorary Consultant in Developmental Neuropsychiatry. He runs the National Centre for High Functioning Autism at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a diagnostic service offering best practice treatment plans for children referred by other clinicians. Professor Skuse's main research interests include complex social communication disorders (autism spectrum conditions), and individual differences in cooperative styles of behaviour that could be influenced by genetic variation. His research focuses on psychiatric endophenotypes - cognitive, behavioural and neurophysiological indicators of dysfunctional biological processes in children and adolescents who are vulnerable to psychiatric disorders, and Professor Skuse is internationally known for his work in these fields.

Dr Helen Bruce, is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist for East London NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. She is also and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Child Health. She has been a Consultant Psychiatrist since 1992 and has worked as a Consultant in acute and low secure settings. Her particular interests in Adult Psychiatry are Psychiatric Intensive Care and Court Diversion. She was the Consultant responsible for a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit and Court Diversion Scheme for six years. Dr Bruce then undertook further training at the Royal London/Great Ormond Street SPR training scheme to be dual accredited in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which she completed in December 2002. She has worked in East London since then as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, first for North East London Mental Health Trust and then in her current post at the Emanuel Miller Centre since 2004. She has a particular interest in transition issues at the interface between Child Mental Health Services and Adult Services, Parental Mental Health and in Medical Education.

Dr Linda Dowdney, Ph.D. (Psychology), M.A. (Developmental Psychology), M.Phil (Clinical Psychology) is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Child Health. She is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Dr Dowdney moved into research following her training in developmental psychology at Columbia University. As part of her research PhD, she developed an observational scheme for assessing the parenting skills of a group of women raised in institutions. Clinically trained at the Institute of Psychiatry, she worked with children and families in a variety of community and hospital settings both in inner and outer London areas, becoming head of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton. Subsequently, Dr Dowdney became a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey where she was director of the Clinical Psychology doctoral training course and a member of the BPS Committee on Training in Clinical Psychology. Dr Dowdney's clinical and research interests have centred on parenting skills, failure to thrive and childhood bereavement, and she has national and international publications in these areas. She was a founding editor of the journal Child Psychology & Psychiatry Review (now renamed Child and Adolescent Mental Health).

Dr David A. Mrazek, M.D., F.R.C. Psych. Is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Mrazek has initiated a psychiatric pharmacogenomic research program and implemented clinical psychiatric pharmacogenomic services. Dr. Mrazek is the principal investigator of the SSRI Pharmacogenomic Project within the NIH funded Pharmacogenetics Research Network and a Developing Alcohol Research Center funded by the NIAAA. He also serves as the Director of the