Adolescent Psychiatry: Annals of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 21

This book is a volume in the series produced under the auspices of the American Society of Adolescent Psychiatry. The series began in 1971 and continues to serve as “a reference work for clinicians, incorporating research, clinical case presentations, and theoretical discussions in ways that reflect the growth and evolution of the field” (p. v). The book honors the memories of Richard C. Marohn and Herman D. Staples, whose remarkable contributions to the American Society of Adolescent Psychiatry and to adolescent psychiatry more broadly are briefly presented.

The 20 chapters, by 32 contributors, are organized into five major sections: Development and Psychopathology, Assessment, Issues in Psychotherapy, Interventions for Violence and Trauma, and Training in Adolescent Psychiatry. The range of chapter topics is broad and includes autonomy and individualization among adolescents, analyzability of adolescents, the impact of parental loss, schizophrenia, mood disorders, structured assessments, psychoeducational testing, play therapy, failures in psychotherapy, school interventions, and guidelines for training in adolescent psychiatry, among others. The book focuses on psychoanalytic themes and approaches as models of development, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Case studies are provided throughout to illustrate key processes. The book is rich in discussing the range of analytic themes and content and how they are manifest in core areas of adolescent development, adaptation, and dysfunction.

The material in the chapters tends to be dated. Most of the chapters restrict their citations to works that fall primarily in the 1970s and 1980s or earlier. In the light of the enormous advances in research in central areas covered by the book, this is noteworthy. Related and significant segments of research are not described. For example, child and adolescent psychotherapy outcome research now includes several hundred controlled outcome studies. Reviews of these studies, key conclusions that they have reached, and implications for treatment are not covered. Empirical advances in process and outcome research of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy are not covered either, despite promising evidence with children, adolescents, and adults.

The challenge for this series will be how to weave contemporary research advances into the overarching analytic themes. Research on such topics as risk and protective factors and birth cohort studies on psychopathology, neuroimaging, genetic-psychosocial interactions, and family processes and adolescent functioning has made enormous gains and speaks directly to propositions advanced in this book regarding the emergence, course, and amelioration of dysfunction among adolescents. The integration of the themes of this series with advances in research could benefit the field enormously and lead to new empirical advances.

This book continues an important tradition of thought in adolescent development and psychopathology. The editors have selected key topics and selected eminent contributors who continue that tradition. Future foci of this series might include such topics as substance abuse, teen pregnancy and parenting, peer influences on development, the changing role of the family during adolescence, and gender, ethnic, and cross-cultural influences. These areas reflect clinically and socially significant issues of adolescent development and adaptation.