CLINICAL-STUDIES OF PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS IN JAPAN

Articles on pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) published mainly b y Japanese child psychiatrists in international journals for the last 20 years were reviewed for the purpose of clarifying the accomplishmen t and aims of Japanese PDD research. Although Japanese child psychiatr ists investigated PDD in various specialties, their contributions to i nternational archives were much fewer than those of Japanese professio nals in other branches of medical sciences. This may be accounted for by the absence of an authorized education system of child psychiatrist s and strong clinical orientation together with some reluctance of Jap anese child psychiatrists to perform research. However, the epidemiolo gy of PDD subtypes, the speech loss in PDD and the psychopathology of persons with high-functioning PDD seem to be providing promising resea rch areas for Japanese child psychiatrists based on their clinical exp eriences.