Provided by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General of the United States of America
Chapter 3: Children and Mental Health
Overview of Risk Factors and Prevention
Current approaches to understanding the etiology of mental disorders in
childhood are driven by empirical advances in neuroscience and behavioral
research rather than by theories. Epidemiological research on the factors that
make children vulnerable to mental illness is important for several reasons:
delineating the range of risk factors for particular mental disorders helps to
understand their etiology; the populations most at risk can be identified;
understanding the relative strength of different risk factors allows for the
design of appropriate prevention programs for children in different contexts;
and resources can be better allocated to intervene so as to maximize their
effectiveness.
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