[Etiology of childhood psychoses]

When studying etiology of childhood psychosis, causes may be divided in biological and psychodynamic. The present paper focuses on the first, which are divided in infectious, toxic, neurologic, endocrine, biochemical and genetic; these last include chromosomic alterations and hereditary factors. The relevant bibliography is reviewed. In spite of a growing list of research work, a single etiologic factor has not been found. It is probable that brain disorder in the psychotic child is psychological, mediated by chemical disturbance and with environmental correlates.