Irritability in Pediatric Psychopathology

Pediatric irritability, defined as increased proneness to anger relative to peers, is among the most common reasons for mental health referrals. The past fifteen years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the empirical study of pediatric irritability with the goal of developing more effective methods of assessing and treating these impaired youth.

Irritability in Pediatric Psychopathology offers a comprehensive overview of this work, approaching the topic from multiple perspectives and disciplines including child psychiatry, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience. Offering five sections composed of chapters written by international experts, the book begins be defining pediatric irritability, reviewing its prevalence, current assessment methods, and novel behavioral and psychophysiological indicators. The second section reviews the literature on the development of pediatric irritability from preschool age through adolescence and young adulthood. The third section summarizes the current evidence for genetic and neurobiological factors contributing to pediatric irritability, while the fourth reviews its presentation transdiagnostically across mood and anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and autism. Finally, the book concludes with a presentation of evidence-based psychological and pharmacological interventions. Irritability in Pediatric Psychopathology is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and trainees working with children and adolescents.

Amy K. Roy is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Fordham University where she also serves as the Director of the Integrative Neuroscience Program. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including two Young Investigator Awards from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (formerly NARSAD), an Anxiety Disorders Association of America Career Development Travel Award, and a New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit New Investigator's Award. She has authored/co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed papers and has edited a book on Pediatric Anxiety Disorders.

Melissa A. Brotman is the Director of Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics, Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience, Emotion and Development Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. Currently, her developmental, translational research integrates basic and clinical approaches to the study of mood disorders in children and adolescents. Specifically, she uses affective neuroscience techniques (e.g., fMRI, behavioral paradigms) to understand the brain-based mechanisms underlying severe irritability in youth, and then uses that pathophysiological knowledge to guide the development of novel targeted interventions. She is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Affective Disorders. Finally, mentoring is an essential aspect of her career; she was recognized in September 2016 when she received the NIMH Outstanding Mentor Award.

Ellen Leibenluft is a Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program. Her contributions include identifying chronic irritability as an important clinical problem distinct from pediatric bipolar disorder, and using cognitive neuroscience to elucidate the nosology and pathophysiology of pediatric mental disorders, thus enabling the development of novel interventions. She has authored over 250 publications and served as an Editor and Editorial Board member for multiple journals in her field. She has received many awards, including the NIMH Director's Merit Award and election to the National Academy of Medicine.