Psychopathology must be regarded within the framework of an understanding of underlying developmental factors. This book looks at research on various groups of children and starts by reviewing the key international epidemiological studies on children at risk from psychiatric disorders, before moving on to describe in detail the particular situations placing children at risk of developing mental disorders, such as growing up with a depressed parent, a parent with schizophrenia, or as a result of adoption. The second half of the book reviews our knowledge of the clinical features, the effects of intervention, the course and the outcome of a wide range of psychiatric disorders originating in childhood. This is the only book synthesizing an extremely large body of research data and pulling it together into a cohesive and comprehensive volume.