Research directions in child psychiatry

Current research in child psychiatry emphasizes the understanding of biological mechanisms of behavior and its aberrations but neglects the transactional relationships in interpersonal phenomena. This situation may led to an unwarranted enthusiasm for biological forms of treatment. The author calls attention to the importance of biopsychosocial elements of behavior in the understanding of growth and development. He discusses research directions to incorporate all elements of the behavioral sciences in the study of child behavior.