Essential adolescent psychiatry
|
|
General practitioners and paediatricians increasingly undertake the assessment and management of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems. Non-psychiatrists want to know what they are dealing with (the diagnostic criteria), what conditions to exclude (with laboratory and other tests), what to expect over time (natural history and prognosis) and the latest and best non-medical and medical treatment approaches.
This authoritative American textbook by well respected authors and editors (Professor Dulcan is the former editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) appears to fill the gap between shorter textbooks such as Barker’s Basic child psychiatry — designed more for allied health professionals or medical students — and the complex longer texts, such as those by Rutter and Hersov.
While I was aware that the lifetime prevalence of anorexia nervosa is estimated at 0.5%, I had not known that one in 200 young people suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, or that there are only five published controlled trials on the treatment of anorexia nervosa (all supporting “Maudsley family therapy” as the treatment of choice). Some earlier controversies are laid to rest (such as the established effectiveness of medication treatment in suppressing the core symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), while others are generated (mostly in relation to the role of neurobiology in aetiology).
One disappointment is that somatic symptoms are mentioned only in passing in the context of childhood depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, with nothing on somatoform disorders per se.
Essentials of child and adolescent psychiatry provides self-evaluation multiple choice questions for each chapter, extensive reference lists, and areas for future research. It is particularly strong on treatment options, with wide-ranging evidence-based recommendations for all of the common emotional and behavioural conditions seen in children and adolescents. This book will be a useful resource for paediatricians and GPs, as well as psychiatric and paediatric registrars seeking a practical overview of child and adolescent psychiatry.
Acknowledgement: Thank you to Dr Jean Starling, Head of Department of Psychological Medicine at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, who contributed to this review.
David L Bennett
Head, NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health
Print Version
Tell-a-Friend comments powered by Disqus
