Editorial: ‘It’s a family affair’ – the social drivers of child and adolescent resilience

Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke

Abstract

Studies of risk and vulnerability processes may provide important ways of identifying new treatment targets – based on the principle that mending something is much easier if you know in what way it is broken. However, in our field, knowing its source may not always tell us about how to remediate impairment. Studies focusing on resilience may be more informative from this perspective. In this editorial I discuss four papers that highlight the value of resilience studies from a translational perspective – in particular contrasting the strengths and limitations of observational and experimental designs.

We hope you enjoy the full editorial of this Issue, which is free on the Wiley Online Library.

Editor-in-Chief, JCPP
Edmund Sonuga-Barke is currently Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience working in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London. He also holds Visiting Chairs at Ghent University, Aarhus University and the University of Sussex. He is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

His work integrates Developmental Psychopathology and Neuroscience perspectives to employing basic developmental science approaches to study the pathogenesis of neuro-developmental and mental health conditions; their underlying genetic and environmental risks, mediating brain mechanisms and developmental outcomes. He has a particular interest in ADHD and related disorders. In 2016, Prof Sonuga-Barke was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Edmund is delivering an ACAMH ADHD Masterclass in May 2019, and in September 2019.