ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, the classification of childhood and adolescent psychopathology has evolved as a result of increasing attention devoted to issues surrounding the diagnostic criteria pertinent to specific disorders. In particular, the scientific parameters of classification systems have been emphasized, and the development of objective instrumentation has improved the diagnostic capabilities of clinicians and researchers. This volume and its companion (Developmental Disorders) are devoted to presenting expert appraisals of the scientific merits of the child and adolescent diagnostic categories described in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and in the DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987), with a particular eye toward proposing refinements in the current diagnostic criteria based on the available empirical literature.
