Child Psychiatry Perspectives: Psychobiological Research in Child Psychiatry

This article reviews the trends of psychobiological research in child psychiatry. An analysis of the data relating to practice, education, and research indicates that the presentday child psychiatry is oriented primarily toward clinical practice and behavioral research, with little or no emphasis on biological research. This imbalance between behavioral and biological research is considered detrimental to the future development of child psychiatry and is tantamount to a crisis of identity for child psychiatrists. It seems that only drastic changes in the present research and training can bring about a significant shift toward the necessary biological emphasis in child psychiatry.