Psychopharmacology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Review of the Past Five Years

Abstract A review of developments in child and adolescent psychopharmacology in the past 5 years reveals progress in the investigation of a variety of disorders. The psychopharmacology of major diagnostic categories is reviewed, with discussion of available study results and comment upon promising areas for future investigation. Many questions still are unanswered about the efficacy and safety of various medications. A dearth of data persists regarding optimal drug choices for treating such illnesses as schizophrenia and depression, reflecting the need for classification of underlying biochemical abnormalities and additional studies of phenomenology. Similarly, some agents are still commonly used purely on an empirical basis because of their clinical value.