Philip Graham

Temperament and Psychiatric Disorder: The Genetic Contribution to Behaviour in Childhood

The studies stemming from the New York longitudinal study of temperament in childhood are summarised and conceptual difficulties and problems arising from them are described. An alternative model of temperament provided by Buss and Plomin is also considered. Finally, a new typology of temperament is proposed. It is based on the suggestion that ordinary, non-pathological behaviours, in extreme form, can be viewed as manifestations of emotional disorder, hyperactivity and antisocial disorder. Empirical evidence derived both from twin studies and from epidemiological investigations is put forward to support this view.

Epidemiologic perspectives on maladaptation in children: neurological, familial, and social factors.

Abstract This paper is a broad survey of epidemiologic studies in child psychiatry in the United Kingdom. Overlaps between conduct disorders and specific reading retardation and between neurocpileptic and emotional or behavioral difficulties are reported. A higher rate of deviance was found to exist in children living in London compared to those on the Isle of Wight. No clear-cut association between social class and emotional or behavioral difficulties was found. Conduct disorders had a poorer prognosis than emotional disorders. The level of emotional and behavioral disturbances of children, rather than economic criteria alone, is an important measure of social progress.

Assisted suicide: two sides to the debate

Editorials are surely meant to provide balanced, dispassionately presented information. The editorial by Hotopf et al ,[1][1] while implying by its title that it is impartial on the issue of assisted suicide, is, in fact, highly tendentious in its approach and selective in the information it