Editorial

Abstract

It again has been my pleasure to work with an outstanding group of contributors in the production of this, the 9th Annual Research Review. In inviting contributions, the intention is that authors provide selective reviews that will serve to update the readership on current research and emerging research trends. As always I am grateful to the authors for agreeing to undertake these reviews, as well as to the referees whose thoughtful and detailed comments to the authors enrich each of the papers. As noted in last year's Editorial, this, and future issues, will begin to revisit some of the topics addressed in previous reviews.

In this issue Susan Gathercole has provided a thoughtful discussion of the issue of development of memory in children. As she notes, many changes take place in the development of children's capacities for memory, particularly in the pre-school years. These topics are of interest to clinicians and researchers working with children. Jan Wallander and James Varni have undertaken a review of the effects of chronic physical disorder on the development of children and their families. As noted, recent research has helped to identify risk and protective factors although evaluations of interventions, sadly, remain lagging. Three papers in this issue are more directly focused on clinical disorders. Maria Kovacs and Bernie Devlin review the topic of internalising disorders in children. This paper focuses on aspects of predictive validity, comorbidity, onset, and family history. Rosemary Tannock reviews recent advances in our understanding of the neurobiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; her review highlights the range of problems observed in this condition and the need for interdisciplinary research perspectives. Leslie Jacobsen and Judith Rapoport provide a most helpful summary of recent work on childhood schizophrenia. Although this condition is very rare, its tremendous cost in human terms as well as its significance for research lends considerable interest to this review. Research on both these conditions has considerable potential in helping understand aspects of syndrome pathogenesis and mechanisms of disorder. Finally, Edmund Sonuga-Barke has undertaken a review of the issue of categorical approaches to classification of childhood disorders with particular focus on the implications for clinical practice and diagnosis that arise as alternative models for such classification schemes are assessed.

For the 10th edition of the Annual Research Review, we anticipate that the following topics will be covered: effects of trauma on children, advances in the genetics of childhood psychiatric disorders, effects of divorce on children, comorbidity of mental health disorders, the development of language, and neuroimaging.