Recognizing that favorable clinical outcomes are associated with earlier initiation of treatment -- and even more ideally with prevention -- this volume addresses the current status of early intervention in, and prevention of, major mental and substance use disorders. A team of distinguished participants addresses this problem at many levels -- from the DNA molecule to public policy -- in order to show how prevention efforts should be informed by a better understanding of etiology and by a knowledge of indicators of vulnerability.

ContributorsIntroductionPart I: Etiology of Major Mental and Substance Use DisordersChapter 1. Genetic Risk Factors for Mental Disorders: General Principles and State of the ScienceChapter 2. Environmental Determinants of Psychosis: A Focus on Drug AbuseChapter 3. Social Environment and Psychiatric Disorders: A Historical Review Presented on Receipt of the Paul H. Hoch AwardPart II: Vulnerability to Major Mental and Substance Use DisordersChapter 4. Psychobiology of Resilience to Stress: Implications for Prevention of AnxietyChapter 5. Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression: Implications for PreventionChapter 6. Vulnerability to Alcohol and Drug Use DisordersPart III: Prevention: Lessons From SchizophreniaChapter 7. Treatment of the Schizophrenia ProdromeChapter 8. Adolescent Neurodevelopment: A Critical Period for Preventive InterventionChapter 9. Toward Prevention of Schizophrenia: Early Detection and InterventionPart IV: NIH Perspectives on PreventionChapter 10. Prospects for the Prevention of Mental Illness: Integrating Neuroscience and BehaviorChapter 11. Drugs and Alcohol: Treating and Preventing Abuse, Addiction, and Their Medical ConsequencesChapter 12. Alcoholism: Developmental Patterns of Drinking and Prevention of Alcohol Use DisordersPart V: Challenges for the Near FutureChapter 13. Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease: Principles and ProspectsChapter 14. Five Facts About Preventing Drug DependenceChapter 15. Prevention of Aggressive Behavior Through Middle School Using a First-Grade Classroom-Based InterventionChapter 16. Conceptually Driven Pharmacological Approaches to Acute TraumaIndex