DEFINITION

• Child psychiatry centers on the assessment, treatment, and prevention of mental health problems in children and adolescents. Unfortunately, children and adolescents can experience significant difficulties in emotion regulation, cognition, and behavior that markedly impair function.

History

• Interest in childhood development first emerged in the 18^th century. French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s major novel, Émile, focused on the physical, emotional, and social development of children through education[1].
• In the latter half of the 19^th century, European psychiatrists including Emminghaus, Manheimer, and Moreau de Tours described childhood psychopathology based upon diagnostic classifications created for adults[2].
• In 1930, the first academic child psychiatry department was founded by Dr. Leo Kanner, under the direction of Dr. Adolf Meyer, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Kanner wrote the first English-language textbook in the field titled Child Psychiatry in 1935 and was also a pioneer in describing the clinical syndrome of autism[3].
• Child and adolescent psychiatry emerged as an established medical specialty in 1953 through the founding of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry[1]. The organization is now known as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.