Although the field of child psychopathology is of relatively recent origin, it is a healthy, burgeoning one. Within the past 10 to 20 years, numerous articles and books have been published, and the field can now be described as emerging with an identity of its own. No longer can child psychopathology be viewed simply as a downward extension of adult psy- chopathology. Rather, children must be viewed as children, not as miniature adults. Such a situation requires that issues of child psychology and developmental psychology be inti- mately considered when delineating the problems of children. Such a focus has guided our efforts in soliciting contributors and topics for this volume. All contributors are active researchers and clinicians in the area of child psychopathology, and all are acutely aware of the special considerations of child and developmental psychol- ogy as they relate to child behavior problems. Further, all contributors are empirically minded; consequently, the various chapters are data-based and represent the most up-to- date knowledge available. However, since research-based knowledge is more abundant in some topic areas than in others, the chapters vary in length and scope.

Although the field of child psychopathology is of relatively recent origin, it is a healthy, burgeoning one. Within the past 10 to 20 years, numerous articles and books have been published, and the field can now be described as emerging with an identity of its own. No longer can child psychopathology be viewed simply as a downward extension of adult psy- chopathology. Rather, children must be viewed as children, not as miniature adults. Such a situation requires that issues of child psychology and developmental psychology be inti- mately considered when delineating the problems of children. Such a focus has guided our efforts in soliciting contributors and topics for this volume. All contributors are active researchers and clinicians in the area of child psychopathology, and all are acutely aware of the special considerations of child and developmental psychol- ogy as they relate to child behavior problems. Further, all contributors are empirically minded; consequently, the various chapters are data-based and represent the most up-to- date knowledge available. However, since research-based knowledge is more abundant in some topic areas than in others, the chapters vary in length and scope.