Developmental neuropsychiatry addresses the neurobiological basis of behaviour in infants, children, and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders and in those with brain damage occurring during the developmental period. As a field, it includes the aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioural, emotional, interpersonal, and psychiatric disorders. The parent’s response, adjustment to, and involvement in treatment is a critical element in outcome. The developmental neuropsychiatrist utilizes a developmental perspective that focuses on the developing person who is active, socially...

Developmental neuropsychiatry addresses the neurobiological basis of behaviour in infants, children, and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders and in those with brain damage occurring during the developmental period. As a field, it includes the aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioural, emotional, interpersonal, and psychiatric disorders. The parent’s response, adjustment to, and involvement in treatment is a critical element in outcome. The developmental neuropsychiatrist utilizes a developmental perspective that focuses on the developing person who is active, socially oriented, and emerging rather than passively responding to the environment. The adaptive plasticity of the developing nervous system to change is emphasized, and the essential role of environmental experience in brain development is acknowledged. When working with the affected child, an effort is made to provide the supports needed to facilitate the mastery of age-appropriate developmental tasks always keeping in mind the child’s individual capacities and strengths. This chapter focuses on foetal alcohol spectrum disorder syndrome, gestational substance abuse, endocrinopathies, traumatic brain injury, and epilepsy.