Developmental Epidemiology

This chapter discusses developmental psychopathology from the viewpoint of epidemiology, "the study of health and illness in human populations". After a brief introduction to some of the basic concepts of the epidemiological method, it discusses what modern epidemiology is and does, the questions it addresses, some of the key methods it uses, and how these methods can be applied to the special problems of developmental psychopathology. the chapter then presents a short history of how child psychiatric epidemiology has grown into developmental epidemiology, illustrating how these changes reflect society's changing concerns about the mental health of children. Finally, it describes the ways developmental epidemiology is branching out and taking on the concerns and methods of related areas: life course and intergenerational epidemiology; transnational epidemiology; genetic epidemiology; the study of burden of disease; and the use of epidemiologic designs to test hypotheses about the causes of psychiatric disorders.

Duke Scholars

Author Elizabeth Jane Costello Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...

Author Adrian Christopher Angold Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...