CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOSIS - A REVIEW OF THE PAST 10 YEARS

Objective: Developmental aspects of psychosis are reviewed and related to the more frequent psychotic conditions in children and adolescents . Method: The review of the recent literature focuses on developmental aspects of psychotic phenomena, i.e., hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder. Results: While the applicability of much early work on this topic is limited, more recent work suggests that psychotic con ditions are observed in childhood and increase in frequency during ado lescence. Conclusions: Developmental factors in the expression of psyc hosis are relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of such conditions.