From Research to Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health has been shaped to reflect the mental health needs of children and adolescents in low and middle income countries of the world. It also includes chapters on topics based on research and practice in high income countries which may have lessons and implications universally. The first section of the book takes a child and adolescent mental health services perspective encompassing epidemiology, mental health needs, and selected policy issues. The second section provides summaries of research findings into the mechanisms for problems frequently encountered in child and adolescent psychiatric practice: schizophrenia, mood disorders, and sleep problems. The third and last section is about interventions and practice. It describes the treatment gap between low and middle income countries in relation to child and adolescent mental health and shows how professionals or lay people may be trained to effectively deliver interventions.

This monograph has been produced for the 21st congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) to be held in Durban, South Africa, in 2014. This is the first congress of IACAPAP in Africa, and it takes place at an appropriate time in view of the continent’s burgeoning child population, significant economic growth and wish to improve the populations’ health.