reference

I am writing about the 3rd edition, which is the most current volume. The only disappointment that I have about this text is that I did not obtain it much earlier. The chapters are well written with many references for further study. The practitioner can keep abreast of the current literature on topics that s/he may already be familiar, or obtain authoritive information about other clinical areas not part of one's regular practice. This text is not written in the style of a dictionary, that is, the reader is given a summary in the style and length of a journal article. The book compliments the older volumes of the American Handbook of Psychiatry for which I have still found much use.

I also give strong recommendation for the Social Worker's Desk Reference that is available on Amazon. This latter book is a 2002 text that for some disorders gives a better summary than the Handbook. The Desk Reference is of value regardless of one's clinical license.

The strength of the book is that it summarizes the main issues on assessment and treatment quite well. Certainly worthwhile for a quick reference to current opinion on topics but if you're after the finer detail of theory this may not be your book and you might want to try "Child Psychopathology" by Mash & Barkley. The question to ask is, is this book worth $170USD new? If you don't mind spending this money then the book is a useful addition to a professional library for advanced students and professionals.

This is indeed the "Bible" for the clinical child psychologist. As a pediatrician, who through all my professional life have worked closely with child psychologists, permit me to review this very serious and professional handbook. It is edited by C Eugene Walker from Oklahoma and Michael C Roberts from Kansas with 114 contributors (all from United States). The first edition of the handbook was published 18 years ago and it has since turned into a reference and guide for students, adademics and clinicians in the field. The book is divided into seven sections with a total of 55 chapters. The first section deals with child development and the first chapter with families and children in history with a focus on American history, but I especially liked the chapter by Judith A Chafel and Kathryn Gold Hadley on poverty and well-being of children and their families. This is a new addition to this edition, but a very important one. Poverty and hunger are old phenomena, but only recently become a subject of research and interest to politicians. They should be interested, because poverty is a major public health problem in many developed countries. Data from 1996 in the United States estimate that 20.5% of the children were living in poverty. This well researched paper will give you information on definition of poverty, effects on development, health and psychosocial risks, resiliency and implications for clinical intervention. Section two provides different diagnostic assessments of children and adolescents, section three deals with problems of early life and clinical problems of birth, neonatology, infant and preschool period and section four about problems of childhood. This last section has 16 chapters with some interesting entries. I especially liked the chapter on mental retardation, which takes into account the 1992 American Association on Mental Retardation (AMMR) definition of mental retardation, where not only IQ, but multidimential classification was used as a novel way to look upon mental retardation. I would have liked an entry on the use of the word "mental retardation", which is very much debated (sometimes very hotly like at the last international conference in Seattle in August 2000) and at all not in use in many parts of the world, where instead the term "intellectual disability" is preferred. Section five has nine relevant chapters on adolescence, but I would like to see a chapter on teenage pregnancy in the next edition, because that is especially a problem in United States and United Kingdom, where we are talking about potential psychological risks for the next generation also. Section six conveys intervention strategies with good chapters on hospitalization and pharmacotherapy among others. The last section has special topics like cultural issues, divorce, grief, ethics and forensic evaluation. The chapter on impact of a parent chronic illness is very interesting and I would also suggest a chapter on chronic illness or disability in the child for the next edition. This topic is mentioned in another chapter (on contemporary issues), but deserves a full chapter. The words disability and intellectual disability are not mentioned even in the index. In this section I especially like the chapter on child maltreatment by Barbara L Bonner and collegues, which is a good review of the field of child abuse and neglect, but again the focus in on the United States and international work in the field not mentioned. A chapter on research in child psychology and the use of internet should be added for the next edition. The effects of the internet on children and adolescents should also be added. We recently had a case here in Israel, where an internet connection between two adolescents (a Jewish male and Arab female) were used by terrorists to capture and murder the 14 year old boy. I would have liked to see a section eight with chapters on the future of infancy, childhood and adolescence both in the United States, but also a chapter on international work and research in the field of child psychology. All in all a very positive review for a very useful handbook that can be used by both psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and physicians and thanks for a good editing job. It was a pleasure to read and use this handbook.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD, DMSc Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail: jmerrick@aquanet.co.il