Children who show elevated levels of indirect aggression (IA) from childhood to adolescence are at increased risks of experiencing detrimental outcomes. Some studies suggest that psychopathic traits could act as a predisposing vulnerability in the development of IA, but the contributions of all three dimensions of psychopathic traits in explaining…

Background: The differential susceptibility hypothesis states that some genetic variants that confer risk in adverse environments are beneficial in normal or nurturing environments. The cholinergic system is promising as a source of susceptibility genes because of its involvement in learning and neural plasticity. The cholinergic receptor gene…

The question of normal sexuality begins to arise in the treatment of severely sexually abused or sexually offending patients. The author suggests that it is an interesting and delicate moment during the process of recovery when less perverse, more normal sexuality appears mixed with, or even disguised by, the more habitual perverse fantasies.…

Background: Antipsychotic medications have been used extensively to treat aggressive behaviours in persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) when the main psychiatric diagnoses given to them in the past were schizophrenia, childhood psychoses and ID with behaviour problems. Today, antipsychotics are still estimated to comprise 30-50% of all the…

This paper reviews the research on dissociation and the development of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Definitions and dimensions of dissociation are addressed, noting its range from normative daydreaming to the extremes found in individuals with multiple personality disorder. Memory dysfunctions, disturbances of identity, passive…

From amnesia to auditory hallucinations, the symptoms of pathological dissociation are among the most devastating effects of childhood maltreatment. Ways in which therapists can provide a comprehensive developmental approach to understanding, diagnosing, and treating this challenging clinical population are presented in this text. After reviewing…

This group of eight bulletins provides abstracts on research relating to children reported to the Clearinghouse for Research in Child Life from July 1962 to August 1968. Abstracts are organized by topic area: (1) "Long Term Research"; (2) "Growth and Development," including general, physical, perceptual, cognitive, motor,…

Boys Town, founded in 1917 by Father Edward Flanagan, attempts to respond to the challenges faced by today's children and youth with its own child care model, called the Boys Town Family Home Program. This model is based on family-style nurturing, behavioral-based instruction, and a "systems" approach to staff training and development.…