Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders

Sponsored by the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania and the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands Trust, Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders, Second Edition, provides a major update since the first edition in 2005. It addresses the current state of knowledge about the major mental health disorders that emerge during adolescence, including updated DSM-5 diagnosticcriteria. Here, six commissions established by the APPC and the Sunnylands Trust pool their expertise on adolescent anxiety, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, depression and bipolar disorders, eating disorders, and suicidal behavior in sections that thoroughly define each disorder, outline andassess available treatments, discuss prevention strategies, and suggest a research agenda based on what we know and don't yet know about these various conditions. Two additional behavioral disorders-gambling and internet addiction—are covered in this second edition.As a meaningful counterpoint to its primary focus on mental illness, the volume also incorporates the latest research from a seventh commission—on positive youth development—which addresses how we can fully prepare young people to be happy and successful throughout their lives. Concluding chapters discuss overarching issues regarding the behavioral and mental health of adolescents: overcoming the stigma of mental illness, the research, policy, and practice context for the delivery ofevidence-based treatments, and the development of a more robust agenda to advance adolescent health. Integrating the work of eminent scholars in both psychology and psychiatry, this work will be an essential volume for academics and practicing clinicians and will serve as a wake-up call to mental healthprofessionals and policy makers alike about the state of our nation's response to the needs of adolescents with mental disorders.

“[T]he contributors have skillfully summarized and synthesized a vast amount of information, provided an evenhanded evaluation of existing research, and made sound suggestions for future research.>, “[This book] provides an excellent evidence-based review of each of the topics and manages to weave in clinically important findings that help to keep the information both practical and tangible to the clinician. The review of the data on how to define each disorder, how to treat it, and how to prevent it make the book one that must be read by anyone involved in the routine care of adolescents. It is a clear and well-written book that should provide an evidence-based approach to the thoughtful care of adolescents, and it should be a ready reference on the shelf of any physician caring for adolescents.>, “[T]he major objectives of this work . . . have been superbly accomplished. This volume is a solid, meticulous, carefully written integration of our knowledge about adolescent mental health disorders and a proposal for future work in this area. It should be read by all those interested in adolescent mental health and mental disorders, especially child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists, but also by policy makers.>, “This volume is extraordinarily valuable in synthesizing a great deal of information based predominantly on such tightly controlled studies.>, “I know I am going to use it often for a variety of different reasons: to learn and to teach from and to use for advocacy. . . . As we interface with our legislators and those who set policy for our country they must hear our voices loud and clear. To a large extent this volume gives us the voice to articulate and help set that agenda.”-Psychological Medicine

Dwight L. Evans, MD, is Roerhoff Rickels Professor of Psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.Edna B. Foa, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Radiology at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.Herbert Hendin, MD, is CEO and Medical Director of Suicide Prevention Initiatives.Charles P. O'Brien, MD, PhD, is Kenneth E. Appel Professor Psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.Daniel Romer, PhD, is Research Director at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania.Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD, is Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology, Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.B. Timothy Walsh, MD, is William and Joy Ruane Professor of Pediatric Psychopharmacology, Department of Psychiatry, at Columbia University Medical Center.