In this, the 11th Annual Research Review, I have been pleased to work with an outstanding group of contributors. As in past issues of the Annual Research Review the aim is to provide our readers with reviews that update both current knowledge and research findings. Authors are asked to be selective, rather than comprehensive, in their coverage as they identify the issues that they feel are particularly important for future research. I am grateful not only to the authors but to the numerous referees who provided critiques of each paper.

In the first paper in this issue David Skuse provides an update on the relevance of behavioural neuroscience to child psychopathology. This paper provides a thoughtful review of the findings of the past decade and outlines possible directions for future research developments; it appears that we are poised for a major explosion of knowledge in this area. In the second paper Robin Chapman provides a very useful review of recent research on language development. This paper provides an update of Dorothy Bishop's earlier review of the topic and illustrates the considerable progress made since the time of that review. In the third paper Eilish Gilvarry summarises recent research on substance abuse in young people. This review covers recent changes in trends and patterns of substance abuse, aspects of risk and comorbidity, and treatment. Brown and colleagues then review recent work on children and adolescents with HIV and AIDS; this global health problem presents unique issues relative both to research and intervention. Danya Glaser then provides an overview of recent work on child abuse and neglect and the brain; the attempt to bring the various perspectives of neuroscience together on this topic is particularly timely and appropriate. Finally, Sparrow and Davis provide an overview of recent advances in the assessment of intelligence. This paper provides a helpful summary of current perspectives on the assessment of intelligence; the review of instruments will be of particular interest to our readers.

For the 12th edition of the Annual Research Review we anticipate coverage of the following topics: intersubjectivity, reading disability, longitudinal approaches to developmental data, mental retardation, conduct disorder, and psychopharmacology.