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Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016

Five years ago, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (CAPMH) published a thematic series on "Forensic child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health in Europe", in partnership with the European Association for Forensic Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychology & other involved Professions (EFCAP). In the intervening years, EFCAP has continued to emphasise the medical and educational needs of young people in the justice system, and has published a wealth of research on this topic.

Recently, EFCAP members voted to make CAPMH the official journal of the society, and to publish thematic series in the journal on an annual basis. We are delighted to present the first of these below, consisting of an introduction by Klaus Schmeck, Liaison Editor Cyril Boonmann and Jörg Fegert, and five research articles. These articles span a diverse range of topics, and will be of interest to mental health professionals and policy makers worldwide.


  1. To examine the relationship between a history of childhood abuse and mental health problems in juveniles who sexually offended (JSOs) over and above general offending behavior.

    Authors: Cyril Boonmann, Thomas Grisso, Laura S. Guy, Olivier F. Colins, Eva A. Mulder, P. Vahl, Lucres M. C. Jansen, Theo A. H. Doreleijers and Robert R. J. M. Vermeiren
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016 10:45
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  2. Psychopathy is a specific syndrome that predicts future violent and aggressive behavior in adults. Studies in youth and adults have demonstrated a strong association between early traumatic incidents and later...

    Authors: Kathrin Sevecke, Sebastian Franke, David Kosson and Maya Krischer
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016 10:43
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. Attenuated activity of stress-regulating systems has consistently been reported in boys with conduct problems. Results in studies of girls are inconsistent, which may result from the high prevalence of comorbi...

    Authors: Kimberly A. Babel, Tijs Jambroes, Sanne Oostermeijer, Peter M. van de Ven, Arne Popma, Robert R. J. M. Vermeiren, Theo A. H. Doreleijers and Lucres M. C. Jansen
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016 10:42
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  5. Young offenders are known to be a population with high prevalence of mental health disorders. In most cases, these disorders are neither identified nor treated properly, with the majority of them being chronic...

    Authors: Daniel Rijo, Nélio Brazão, Ricardo Barroso, Diana Ribeiro da Silva, Paula Vagos, Ana Vieira, Ana Lavado and Ana Margarida Macedo
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016 10:40
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. More research is needed to improve our understanding of the manifestation of psychopathic traits in violently offending girls. Our aim here was to assess psychopathic traits and psychopathy-related background ...

    Authors: Nina Lindberg, Svetlana Oshukova, Jouko Miettunen and Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2016 10:38
    Content type: Research article Published on: