Abstract
In this chapter, we show how epidemiology can help us to think about the causes of psychiatric disorders and to develop a coherent philosophy of intervention to prevent and ameliorate them. By the end of the chapter, we hope to have made the case that (1) the goal of epidemiological research is disease prevention, (2) understanding the development of a disease and intervening to prevent it are equally important aspects of epidemiological research, (3) understanding the development of a disease may point to different kinds of intervention at different stages in the developmental process, and (4) understanding individual development is a critical part of understanding and intervening in the disease process, because both risk for, and expression of, disorder change over the life course. Finally, taking as a model the Framingham study (Dawber, 1980), with its 50-year history of exploring risk for coronary heart disease, we argue the case for a “developmental Framingham”: a longitudinal, community-based commitment to understanding and minimizing risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. At the same time, we point out that an epidemiological approach to the control of disease has often raised tremendous social and political controversies (think about the battle to put fluoride in the water supply), and that an epidemiological approach to developmental psychopathology is liable to raise even more violent debates.
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Costello, E.J., Angold, A.C. (2000). Developmental Epidemiology. In: Sameroff, A.J., Lewis, M., Miller, S.M. (eds) Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4163-9_4
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