Child Psychiatric Epidemiology
[ EL011 ]

Psychiatric problems frequently occur in children and adolescents. Epidemiological methods are used in child psychiatric research to study the occurrence of psychiatric disorders, test causal hypotheses and investigate the developmental trajectories.

In this course epidemiological research and methods in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry will be discussed in depth. Using an interactive approach most material is presented in seminar format. A wide range of topics will be covered ranging from descriptive epidemiology, major research milestones, current methodological challenges to a future research agenda for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. These themes are linked to selected major disorders. Other seminars will cover selected research topics. Students are engaged to evaluate and design different research projects. Particular emphasis lies on study designs with a developmental, multi-informant, or multi-method approach.

Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:

• Critically interpret the literature in the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

• Evaluate critically major child psychiatric research themes such as nosology, genetics, brain imaging or multi-informant approach.

• Design and analyze a Child Psychiatric epidemiological study.

Assignment