Advances in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Developmental Perspectives, Psychopathology, and Clinical Care

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychiatry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 613

Editor


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Guest Editor
IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Scientific Institute of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Pisa, Italy
Interests: child and adolescent psychiatry; mood disorders; emotional dysregulation; psychopathology; early psychotic disorders; Tourette syndrome; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Child and adolescent psychiatry has evolved substantially over recent decades, moving from predominantly descriptive models toward integrative, developmentally informed frameworks that combine clinical psychopathology, neuroscience and psychosocial perspectives. Increasing emphasis has been placed on early identification of risk trajectories, dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches and the continuity between childhood, adolescence and adult mental disorders. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an updated overview of key areas in child and adolescent psychiatry, with a focus on clinically relevant psychopathological dimensions and evidence-based interventions. The scope includes mood and anxiety disorders, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, non-suicidal self-injuries and suicidality, early psychotic disorders, personality development and pathology, internet-use disorders, functional neurological conditions and neurodevelopmental disorders. This Special Issue welcomes cutting-edge research addressing developmental, neurobiological and clinical perspectives as well as advances in assessment, early intervention and treatment outcomes. We invite original research, reviews, and clinically oriented contributions that foster an integrated understanding of mental health and psychopathology across developmental stages.

Dr. M. Giulia D'Acunto
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • child and adolescent psychiatry
  • developmental psychopathology
  • emotional dysregulation
  • mood and anxiety disorders
  • psychosis
  • suicidality
  • neurodevelopmental disorders
  • non-suicidal self-injury
  • internet use disorders

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 544 KB  
Article
Multivariate Associations Between R-PAS Variables and Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors in Help-Seeking Adolescents
by Marzia Di Girolamo, Roberta Invernizzi, Paola Galli, Irene Orlandi, Luciano Giromini, Donald J. Viglione, Renato Borgatti, Martina Maria Mensi and Marika Orlandi
Brain Sci. 2026, 16(5), 519; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16050519 - 13 May 2026
Viewed by 355
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescence remain difficult to assess due to their multifactorial and fluctuating nature. Performance-based measures may provide additional information on psychological correlates associated with suicidality beyond self-report and interview data. Methods: This study examined multivariate associations between [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescence remain difficult to assess due to their multifactorial and fluctuating nature. Performance-based measures may provide additional information on psychological correlates associated with suicidality beyond self-report and interview data. Methods: This study examined multivariate associations between RorschachPerformance Assessment System (R-PAS) variables and suicidality in a clinical sample of 153 help-seeking adolescents. Elastic net penalized regression models were estimated to evaluate joint patterns of R-PAS variables derived from the Suicide Concern Composite (SC-Comp) and selected developmentally relevant indices, controlling for age, sex at birth, sociodemographic and clinical factors. Suicidal ideation severity and lifetime suicidal behavior were assessed using the Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Results: For both outcomes, morbid content (MOR) and Location, Space, and Object Qualities-Complexity (LSO-Cmplx) emerged as consistent multivariate correlates, with vigilance–avoidance (VFD) contributing only in the model for suicidal ideation severity. Model performance was modest (R2 = 0.09), indicating limited explanatory power. The findings do not support clinical or predictive use of R-PAS variables for suicidal ideation and behaviors, but indicate a small set of reproducible multivariate associations within this sample. Conclusions: The results suggest that certain R-PAS variables show weak but consistent associations with suicidality in a help-seeking adolescent sample. Given the cross-sectional design and modest explanatory power, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating, and further studies are needed to clarify the robustness and meaning of these associations. Full article
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