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Research on Children & Adolescents with Mental, Behavioral & Developmental Disorders

NCJ Number
127020
Date Published
1989
Length
256 pages
Annotation
At the request of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Institute of Medicine established a committee to evaluate research on children with persistent and disabling mental disorders and to identify areas of high research priority.
Abstract
The committee focused on diagnosable mental disorders rather than on broader indicators of social dysfunction. Its report therefore deals with drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, and school dropout as primary risk factors for or consequences of developing mental disorders. The committee discovered a consistent pattern of both frustration and optimism among researchers and found that the child mental health field is committed to researching the complexities inherent in assessing causes and determinants of childhood mental disorders. Investigators have determined that psychological, biological, social, and environmental factors are causal agents in specific mental disorders. Intrinsic barriers to research arise from the complex nature of normal human development and ethical and pragmatic issues raised by research with infants and young children. Extrinsic barriers to research include the shortage of well-trained researchers, the lack of institutional settings for child mental health research, and the lack of sustained funding. Although several Federal agencies support research on childhood emotional and developmental problems, the NIMH is the agency primarily responsible for mental health research and training. The national research plan recommended by the committee focuses on developing viable careers in child mental health research, encouraging programmatic and innovative research, and enhancing the NIMH's ability to provide sustained research leadership. High priority is given in the recommended NIMH budget to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment; behavioral and social science research; and prevention and special populations. An appendix lists members of the committee's task forces. References and tables