For me, the word "infant" has always had a strange and compelling fascination. This book, in essence, represents the first step of what I hope will be a long and fruitful journey into the mysteries of the infant psyche, with special emphasis on the phenomenon of early-life depressive symptomatology. From the outset of my medical training, I was particularly attracted to the field of psychiatry. As a resident exposed to adult patients in a psychiatric ward, I can vividly recall, even these many years later, the deep sense of poignancy and distress while in the presence of minds gone awry. It is my belief that psy­ chiatry, more than any other branch of medicine, presents the physician with the ultimate paradox-the elusive diagnosis. By this I mean that while the symp­ tomatology of psychiatry may be classified and analyzed, while diagnoses, prog­ noses, and treatment schedules can be devised, within psychiatry the unique configuration of each individual patient emerges with a clarity and distinction unparalleled in any other medical field. Before any psychiatric diagnosis can be formulated, the therapist must first delve deeply into the ultimate singularity of the patient. As a consequence, psychiatry is, in the final analysis, concerned with the dignity of each patient, and the psychiatrist is continually challenged to explore the most formidable and elaborate aspect of each person-the human mind. That said, I need to express the reasons for my dedication to child psychiatry.

Inhalt

1 Developmental Psychopathology.- The Perspective of Developmental Psychopathology.- A Developmental Perspective on Depression.- Predictive Validity.- Future Directions: Need for Improved Research and Classification Methods.- Organization of Book.- 2 Correlates of Temperament to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Individual Differences and Importance of Stability Over Time.- Relationship Between Depressive Disorders and Temperament.- Methodological Issues in the Study of Temperament.- Conclusion.- 3 Correlates of Attachment to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Description of Attachment Behavior.- Definition and Measurement of Attachment Behavior.- Stability and Correlations of Behavioral Patterns.- Factors Affecting the Development and Display of Attachment Behaviors.- The Function of Avoidant Behavior.- Precursors of Avoidance Behaviors.- Other Studies Involving Infants at Risk for Affective Disorders.- Relevance of Avoidant Behavior.- Conclusions.- 4 Correlates of Object Permanence and Constancy to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Object Permanence.- Development and Significance of Object Permanence.- Significance of Object Constancy.- Factors Affecting Object Constancy.- Development of Object Constancy.- Conclusion.- 5 Correlates of the Self to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Defining Self-Concept.- The Development of Self-Concept During Infancy.- Self-Concept Among Preschoolers and Older Children.- Development of Self-Concept During School Years.- Development of Self-Regulation.- Relation of Self to Attachment.- Relationship of Self-Schemas to Depressive Pathology.- Conclusions.- 6 Correlates of Empathy to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Definitions of Empathy.- Development of Empathic Distress.- Empathic Transformation into Guilt and Its Relationship to Prosocial Action.- Conclusion.- 7 The Face-to-Face Interaction Paradigm.- Case Report.- Defining the Paradigm.- Model for Studying Depressive Dyadic Interaction.- Developmental Lines That Delineate Infant Depression.- Infant's Perspective.- Affective Response.- Cardiac Response.- Caregiver's Perspective.- Mutual Dyadic Interactive Mechanism: General Dyadic Behavior.- Discrepancy Awareness Hypothesis.- Gazing Patterns Within Dyadic Model.- Comparison Between Healthy and At-Risk Infants.- Infant Attachment and Response to Strangers.- Depressive Dyadic Interaction.- Conclusion.- 8 Learned Helplessness Paradigm.- Case Report.- Overview of the Learned Helplessness Paradigm.- Temperament Capabilities as Factors Influencing Learned Helplessness.- The Discrepancy Awareness Hypothesis.- The Effectance Motivation System.- Contingency Awareness.- Attachment Behaviors as Factors Influencing Learned Helplessness.- Development of Self.- Contingency and Self-Concept: Attributional Style.- Conclusion.- 9 Correlates of Neuroendocrinology to Depressive Phenomena.- Case Report.- Interactions Between Internal States and External Events.- Assessment of Current Status of Biogenic Amine Theories.- Developmental Psychoendocrinology: Therapeutic Implications for Definition and Treatment of Depression.- Conclusion.- 10 Clinical Paradigm.- Models of Childhood Depression.- Case Report.- Maternal Deprivation.- Clinical Studies of Maternal Separation.- Conclusion.- References.