Developmental Psychiatry

This volume provides a nontechnical account of those aspects of human development that are particularly relevant to an understanding of psychiatric disorders. Although the book is not concerned with an analysis of the course and development of psychiatric disorders as such, it delineates a backdrop made up of the findings and issues in the study of normal development against which the developmental aspects of psychopathology may be considered. In describing the processes of physical, mental, emotional and behavioural development, Dr Rutter and his contributors place an emphasis on those aspects of development of greatest interest to clinicians, and they view normal development with an eye to its implications for clinical pathology. The book is designed to be relevant to the clinician, and coverage is therefore weighted toward findings in the fields of play, social development, emotional development, psychosexual and moral development, as well as the more widely examined area of cognitive development.