Child and adolescent psychiatry in Spain

Abstract

The specialty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Spain does not have a precise definition and is generally not officially recognized as an autonomous specialty. Nevertheless, the Spanish Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AEPIJ) has denned the specialty in a recent document (Pedreira et al., 1996) in the following way: “Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy includes the promotion of the psychosocial development in children and adolescents, the prevention of possible mental dysfunctions in children and adolescents, the diagnosis, the therapeutic intervention, the treatment in its social group of the disorders detected — in pharmacologic, as well as psychotherapy, family support and the psychosocial intervention — and the rehabilitation and social integration of the children and adolescents with mental disorders, psychosomatic conditions, developmental disorders, sensorial dysfunctions and other psychological and behavioral problems and disorders and social adaptation that occur in children and adolescents, considering that this stage includes from the moment of birth to 18 years”. Nevertheless, it is necessary to wait until the National Council of Medical Specialties (CNEM) approves in a definitive way the Area of Specific Training and Accreditation (ACE) in child and adolescent psychiatry to be able to formulate as much the definition as the professional competitions and the program of the Spanish professionals’ training in this scientific and professional field.KeywordsEating DisorderAdolescent PsychiatryMedical SpecialtyContinuous Medical EducationChild PsychiatryThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.