About the Book
This volume reviews and synthesizes knowledge on maladaptive aggression and antisocial behaviour in youth. Written from a clinical-developmental perspective, and integrating theory and research from diverse fields, the book examines the origins, development, outcomes, and treatment of what appears to be a growing epidemic among today's children and adolescents. Major topics addressed include the types and prevalence of aggressive and antisocial behaviour; the interplay among neuropsychiatric, psychosocial, and neurobiological processes in etiology; known risk and protective factors; gender variables; and why and how some children "grow out of" conduct disturbances. Chapters also discuss current approaches to clinical assessment and diagnosis and review the evidence for widely used psychosocial and pharmacological interventions.
Table of Contents:
1. Definitions and Subtyping of Aggressive Behavior
2. Prevalence of Aggression, Antisocial Behaviors, and Suicide
3. Aggression: Stability, Impairment, and Desistance
4. The Relationship between Categorical Psychiatric Diagnosis and Aggression
5. Risk and Protective Factors in Aggression and Related Behaviors
6. Psychobiology: Neuropsychology, Psychophysiology, Brain Imaging, and Minor Physical Anomalies
7. Neurobiology: Biobehavioral Models and Neurological Disorders
8. Integrated Models of Aggression and Related Behaviors
9. Issues in Female Aggression and Related Behaviors
10. Clinical Assessment, Case Formulation, and Treatment Planning
11. Psychosocial Interventions
12. Psychopharmacological Treatments
About the Author :
Daniel F. Connor, MD, is currently Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is also Director of Pediatric Psychopharmacology at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care. A clinician and clinical researcher in child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Connor is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in the specialty of Psychiatry and the subspecialty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. As a practicing clinician, Dr. Connor evaluates and treats a wide variety of youth with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances, most of whom have troubles with excessive, inappropriate, and maladaptive aggression and related problems. An active clinical investigator, Dr. Connor has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters on aggression, pediatric psychopharmacology, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and disruptive behavior disorders. As Director of the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Clinical Trials Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he participates in many multisite clinical drug trials developing new therapies for children and adolescents with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders.
Review :
Connor has drawn on his clinical experience and a large body of research to write a comprehensive account of a problem of increasing concern to clinicians, service providers, and the courts. The strength of this book is the biopsychosocial approach allied to the latest findings from research in brain function. It will become a major sourcebook for the many disciplines dealing with this growing problem in our society, and will be read by both experienced practitioners and psychiatrists-in-training.--Lionel Hersov, MD, FRCP, FRCPsych, The Tavistock Clinic, London, UK
Filling an important gap in the literature on childhood aggression, this book is a highly informative guide for readers involved in clinical assessment, diagnosis, and the development of treatment strategies. It provides definitive coverage of the nature and prevalence of this dysfunctional behavior, and the interplay among environmental, psychosocial, and biological risk factors and influences. In the classroom, this text will inform a new generation of students and clinicians of the importance of developmental psychopathology in the etiology of maladaptive aggression. I recommend it for students at many levels, including undergraduate and graduate students in psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and criminal justice; medical students and psychiatric residents; and law students concerned with crime, violence, and antisocial behavior.--Richard Melloni, Jr., PhD, Department of Psychology and Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University
A remarkably informative book, highly readable and insightful for students in the behavioral sciences and professionals working with juveniles. The volume draws extensively from empirical knowledge in usually disparate fields, such as psychiatry, developmental psychology, and criminology. It provides comprehensive coverage of the important interface between research findings on biological and social factors, on the one hand, and effective assessment and intervention, on the other. I highly recommend it.--Rolf Loeber, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, and School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
There are few topics of greater importance than this one, in view of the extraordinary social costs associated with aggression, and few books that have dealt with it with such sensitivity, breadth, and scope....This is scientific scholarship at its best.--from the Foreword by Russell A. Barkley, PhD, University of Massachusetts Medical School
- A valuable addition to the literature....Clinicians will appreciate the emphasis on the assessment and psychosocial as well as psychopharmacological treatment issues. --Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 7/14/2004ƒƒ A solid review of the current literature, a thoughtful analysis of current models of aggression, and an overview of the therapeutic interventions currently available. --Psychiatric Services, 7/14/2004
