[Developmental trends in child and adolescent psychiatry]

Since 1968 child and adolescent psychiatry has become an independent medical specialty in Germany. As psychotherapy has always been an essential part of the discipline, it has meanwhile also been incorporated into the name of the specialty which now reads: child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. From a historical point of view, child and adolescent psychiatry in Germany has its main roots in adult psychiatry and neurology as well as in pediatrics. Furthermore, it has been stimulated in many ways by other neighbouring disciplines. During the last decades, three trend-setting developments put forward the improvement of child and adolescent psychiatric care in Germany: the "Psychiatrie-Enquête", the model program for psychiatry of the federal government and the "Psychiatry Personnel Act" (Psychiatrie-Personalverordnung). The improvement in the field of care as well as new scientific findings can open important perspectives for the future, but these must always be seen within the frame of society development.