Child psychiatry and early intervention: II. The internalizing disorders

Abstract

This paper uses the concepts introduced in the paper Child Psychiatry and Early Intervention: I. The Aggregate Burden of Suffering to review the internalizing disorders of childhood. This review surveys the internalizing disorders from the point of view of early intervention, for their prevalence, course, risk, early indicators, associated impairment, and responses to intervention. In general, the internalizing disorders have little effect on the community. When coupled with other disorders such as conduct disorder, or when dealing with suicide, the community's concern for these disorders increases and allocation of resources to target populations who are at risk becomes an important public health goal.