Life Course Approach to Mental Disorders in Adults

The aging into adulthood of numerous birth cohorts, especially over the past twenty years, has provided increasing evidence that mental disorders previously perceived to emerge in adulthood may have their origins early in life. A Life Course Approach to Mental Disorders examines the interplay of social and biological factors in the production of a wide range of mental disorders throughout life, from the peri-natal period through to old age. This book brings together, in a single resource, the research in life course epidemiology of mental disorders, forging a consensus on the current science and pointing the way forward for the field.

Assembling researchers across disparate disciplines including epidemiology, developmental psychopathology, psychiatric genetics, sociology, developmental cognitive neuroscience, and epigenetics, the book reviews the methods and synthesizes existing knowledge about the life course epidemiology of mental disorders in populations. It also presents discussions of the mechanisms that drive the production of mental disorders over the life course, including emerging areas of research in the field.

A Life Course Approach to Mental Disorders brings together the state-of-the-art science of life course epidemiology to inform training, research, practice, and policy with regard to mental disorders. The first comprehensive articulation of a life course perspective in the area, it will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and students.

The book examines the interplay of social and biological factors in the development of a wide range of mental disorders across the lifespan, from the peri-natal period to old age. By bringing together research from diverse disciplines, it forges a consensus on the current science and points the way forward for the field of life course epidemiology of mental disorders.

The authors review the methods and existing knowledge about the life course epidemiology of mental disorders in populations, and discuss the mechanisms driving the production of these disorders over the life course, including emerging areas of research. This comprehensive approach to the life course perspective on mental disorders will serve as a key resource for training, research, practice, and policy in this critical area of public health.

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