Through their thoughtful and accurate balance of developmental, clinical-diagnostic, and experimental approaches to child and adolescent psychopathology, Eric Mash and David Wolfe's "Abnormal Child Psychology" remains the most authoritative, scholarly book in today's abnormal child psychology market. Appropriate for novice and expert alike, this book traces the developmental course of each disorder and shows how biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interact with a child's environment. Since one of the best ways to introduce students to a particular problem of childhood or adolescence is to first describe a real child, the authors begin each chapter with engaging first-person accounts and case histories of a child with a particular disorder.This child is then referred to throughout the entire chapter, illustrating the categorical and dimensional approaches used to describe disorders, as well as bringing life to the theories Mash and Wolfe present.

Embracing today's world with leading-edge coverage of the DSM-IV-TR and dimensional approaches to classification, Mash and Wolfe's comprehensive introduction covers many topics: evidence-based assessment and treatment, contemporary research and cutting-edge theories related to the predominantly inattentive ADHD subtype, early-onset and the developmental propensity model of conduct disorder, the triple vulnerability model of anxiety, the tripartite model in children, depression, and autism.