A MULTI-FACETED APPROACH TO EVIDENCE-BASED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DAVID SHAFFER

Objectives: Developmental psychopathology is the result of perturbations in brain development that disrupts behavioral, emotional and/or cognitive function, consequently interfering with adaptation. Over the past several decades, the study of developmental psychopathology has moved from speculation and unstructured observation to adopt a multi-faceted, multidisciplinary evidence-based approach to understanding the variations in child and adolescent development and function. This symposium will examine these changes over time. Methods: This symposium will review selected areas of developmental psychopathology to illustrate the recent scientific and methodologic advances in the field with a particular focus on areas in which David Shaffer has made significant contributions. Results: The presentations will include: Michael Rutter -- Head Injury and Other Risk Factors for Developmental Psychopathology; Prudence Fisher -- Structured Diagnostic Assessment of Children and Adolescents: The DISC and Beyond; Rachel Klein -- DSM, an Evidenced-Based Nosology: Assets and Liabilities in the Present and Future; Madelyn Gould -- Identification and Prevention of Developmental Psychopathology: The Example of Suicidality and NSSI; Jane Costello -- Epidemiology as the Gateway to Understanding the Nature of Developmental Psychopathology; Daniel Pine -- Neurobiological Substrates of Developmental Psychopathology: The Case of Anxiety; John Piacentini -- Integration of Research and Practice in Clinical-Research Training. Conclusions: Matthew State will offer a discussion that integrates this body of work and its impact on the fields of developmental psychopathology and child and adolescent psychiatry. Herbert Pardes will offer a discussion that places the work of David Shaffer in the context of the evolving study of psychiatry disorders in a developmental framework.