University of Vermont

A new book edited by James J. Hudziak, M.D., Achenbach Chair of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, breaks new ground with its reporting on progress in identifying genetic and environmental influences on emotional-behavioral disorders.

Published March 1 by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. (APPI), the book is titled Developmental Psychopathology and Wellness: Genetic and Environmental Influences. Work from a team of 22 international authorities on psychiatric illness in children and adolescents, including Hudziak and Thomas Achenbach, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and psychology at UVM, is featured in the publication.

According to APPI, "Developmental Psychopathology and Wellness shows that these psychopathologies are not a matter of nature versus nurture or genes versus environment, but rather an intertwining web of them all."

The book is available on the APPI website and a host of other booksellers' sites, including Amazon.com. It is organized into four parts: "Basic Principles;" "General Concepts of Gene-Environment Interaction on Child Development;" "Disorder-Based Examples of the Study of Gene-Environment Interaction;" and "The Future of Genetics in Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Settings."

Hudziak, who is a professor of psychiatry, medicine and pediatrics at UVM, is also co-editor of Psychopathology in the 21st Century: DSM-V and Beyond (American Psychiatric Publishing, 2002). Currently the director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, Hudziak's research focuses on using twin, family and molecular genetic approaches in order to understand genetic and environmental influences on a wide variety of child psychiatric conditions.