Conduct disorder (CD) is a mental disorder diagnosed in childhood or adolescence that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that includes theft, lies, physical violence that may lead to destruction, and reckless breaking of rules, in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated. These behaviors are often referred to as "antisocial behaviors", and is often seen as the precursor to antisocial personality disorder; however, the latter, by definition, cannot be diagnosed until the individual is 18 years old. Conduct disorder may result from parental rejection and neglect and can be treated with family therapy, as well as behavioral modifications and pharmacotherapy. Conduct disorder is estimated to affect 51.1 million people globally as of 2013.
Child psychopathology refers to the scientific study of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Oppositional defiant disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder are examples of psychopathology that are typically first diagnosed during childhood. Mental health providers who work with children and adolescents are informed by research in developmental psychology, clinical child psychology, and family systems. Lists of child and adult mental disorders can be found in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Edition (ICD-10), published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). In addition, the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood is used in assessing mental health and developmental disorders in children up to age five.
Sir Michael Llewellyn Rutter CBE FRS FRCP FRCPsych FMedSci was the first person to be appointed professor of child psychiatry in the United Kingdom. He has been described as the "father of child psychiatry".
Russell Alan BarkleyFAPA is a retired American clinical neuropsychologist who was a clinical professor of psychiatry at the VCU Medical Center until 2022 and president of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA) and of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. Involved in research since 1973 and a licensed psychologist since 1977, he is an expert on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has devoted much of his scientific career to studying ADHD and related fields like childhood defiance. He proposed the renaming of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) to cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS).
Irving B. Weiner is an American psychologist and past president of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association. and past president of the Society for Personality Assessment. He is the author and editor of many books on psychology.
Suniya S. Luthar was founder and executive director of AC Groups nonprofit, Professor Emerita at Teachers College-Columbia University, and Co-founder Emerita at Authentic Connections Co. She had previously served on the faculty at Yale University's Department of Psychiatry and the Yale Child Study Center and as Foundation Professor of Psychology at the Arizona State University.
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering both child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry providing an interdisciplinary perspective to the multidisciplinary field of child and adolescent mental health, though publication of high-quality empirical research, clinically-relevant studies and highly cited research reviews and practitioner review articles.
David Allen Wolfe is an academic, psychologist and author specializing in issues of child abuse, domestic violence, children and youth. His work includes the promotion of healthy relationships through school programs, with a major focus on the prevention of child abuse and neglect, bullying, dating violence, unsafe sex, substance abuse and other consequences of unhealthy relationships.
James Frederick Leckman is an American child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and the Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Psychology and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, recognized for his research in Tourette syndrome (TS) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).
Dante Cicchetti is a developmental psychologist and developmental psychopathology scientist specializing in high-risk and disenfranchised populations, including maltreated children and offspring of depressed parents. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota Medical School and in the Institute of Child Development. He is the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair and the William Harris Endowed Chair.
Sheree Toth is a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, as well as an associate professor of psychiatry and the executive director of the Mt. Hope Family Center. She works in the field of developmental psychopathology, especially concerning maltreated children.
Kenneth Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is also the founding and past director of the Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy and founder of Family Connects International.
Elaine F. Walker is a psychologist and professor whose research focuses on child and adolescent development, and changes in the brain due to adolescence. Other research interests includes the precursors and neurodevelopment aspects of schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders. She has taken part in writing over 250 articles and six books related to mental health and neuroscience. Walker is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Emory University.
Stephen P. Hinshaw is an American psychologist whose contributions lie in the areas of developmental psychopathology and combating the stigma that surrounds mental illness. He has authored more than 325 scientific articles and chapters as well as 14 authored and edited books. Currently, he is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor In Residence and Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. His work focuses on child and adolescent mental disorders, clinical interventions, mechanisms of change in psychopathology, and stigma prevention efforts, with a specialization in ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Thomas Hubert Ollendick is an American psychologist known for his work in clinical child and adolescent psychology and cognitive behavior therapy with children. From 1999 to the present, he has been a University Distinguished Professor of psychology at Virginia Tech, and the Director of their Child Study Center.
Jonathan S. Comer. is an American psychologist who is a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Florida International University. He is currently the director of an interdisciplinary clinical research program called the Mental health Interventions and Novel Therapeutics (MINT) Program. The MINT program focuses on improving the quality, scope, and accessibility of mental health care. Comer also serves as director of the Network for Enhancing Wellness in Disaster-Affected Youth, a SAMHSA-funded program in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) that provides trauma-informed training and consultation to youth-serving professionals in disaster-prone and disaster-hit regions. Comer is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a leader in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology. The author of over 250 scientific papers and chapters, he has received early career awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for his work. His research has been funded by federal agencies and by several private foundations and non-profit organizations. He has also received funding from the Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety.
Jelena Obradovic is a developmental psychologist who currently works as associate professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA). She also directs the Stanford Project on Adaptation and Resilience in Kids (SPARK).
Benjamin Bernard Lahey is an American psychologist and developmental epidemiologist. He is the Irving B. Harris Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Health Studies and Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. He has conducted research on psychological problems in children, adolescents, and adults such as ADHD and antisocial behavior, and he was a member of a scientific panel that constructed the current definition of ADHD in the 1990s. He was one of the authors of the papers that first hypothesized a hierarchical organization of dimensions of psychological problems, with a general factor at the top of the hierarchy. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He is also a member of both the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology and the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, as well as a former president of both organizations. Lahey has received the Distinguished Research Award from the Society of Clinical and Adolescent Psychology.
Judy Garber is a clinical psychologist known for her research on emotional dysregulation and mood disorders, with a focus on cognitive-behavioral interventions for adolescents who have depression. Garber is Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.
The International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology is an international learned society dedicated to advancing research on causes and treatments for psychopathology among youth. It was established in 1988 by Herbert C. Quay, who published pioneering work on biobehavioral substrates of externalizing behavior and founded the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. ISRSAP's first meeting was held in Zandvoort, Netherlands, in 1989. It has held biennial meetings in different locations ever since, except during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is registered in the United States state of Illinois as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its official peer-reviewed journal is the Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, which is published by Springer Science+Business Media.
