ABSTRACT
The classification of children and adolescents’ psychological problems, their prevalence, and the effectiveness of psychological treatment in ameliorating these problems are considered in this chapter. There will be a particular focus on Chapter 5 from the tenth edition of the World Health Organization’s International classification of diseases (ICD-10; WHO, 1992, 1996), a clinical version of which is widely used in day-to-day practice in Europe, and on the text revision of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM IV TR; APA, 2000a), which is widely used clinically in North America. The reliability and validity of these classification systems will be considered and their shortcomings outlined. Reference will also be made to the increasingly influential Diagnostic classification of mental health and developmental disorders of infancy and early childhood (DC 0-3; Zero to Three, 1994). The results of some epidemiological studies of childhood psychological disorders will then be reviewed. Finally, research on the effectiveness of the psychological treatment of children and adolescents’ problems will be summarized.
