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.

We have just emerged from “the Decade of the Brain”, yet in so many ways it was the “Decade of the Genome”. What relevance does the remarkable advance in knowledge in genetics and neuroscience over that period have to our understanding of child psychopathology? When the complexity of the genetic systems involved in behavioural regulation of relatively simple organisms such as the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans or the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is considered, the possibility of comprehending the links from genes to behaviour in the developing child seems remote. Yet, the principles of investigation in model systems are not so different to those that should apply in humans. This review draws out the parallels, and introduces recent findings from behavioural studies of C. elegans, D. melanogaster, and the laboratory mouse, as well as humans, to illustrate the point.

This review of children's language learning considers historical accounts of acquisition and individual variation, recent advances in methods for studying language learning, research on genetic and environmental input that have contributed to the interactionist perspective, and the relevance of cross-disciplinary work on language disorders and the biology of learning to future theories. It concludes that the study of children's language development is converging on an interactionist perspective of how children learn to talk, incorporating the contributions of both nature and nurture to emergent, functional language systems. Language learning is viewed as an integration of learning in multiple domains.

Adolescent substance abuse, with its heterogeneity, its complexity and its association with behavioural, physical and mental health problems is of increasing interest to many; the politician, the economist, clinicians and researchers, families and young people themselves. Data concerning the prevalence and trends in use of a range of substances in different countries, cultures and different groups are reviewed. The influence of associated mental and physical health problems, the multiple definitions applied to use and abuse and the confounding effect of different ideologies and cultural differences are considered. There is now much interest in the understanding of risk and protective influences, including multi focused prevention programmes among vulnerable young people. Some positive effects of universal prevention programmes are reported, although too often they lack thoroughness in programme implementation, data collection and follow up. Indeed compared to the adult addiction literature there is a death of research on adolescent treatment outcomes. Research needs to address treatment and cost effectiveness in different settings with different groups. The evidence tends to support multi faceted interventions for high risk youths. However, the use of evidence based programmes with a scientific basis should be supported and implemented.

Worldwide, more than one million children are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and in the United States it has become the sixth leading cause of death among 15–24-year-olds. Despite the trend of increasing rates of infection, advances in therapies have led to survival past 5 years of age for more than 65% of infected children. This global health threat will therefore continue to have a significant impact on child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology. This paper reviews current studies and reports on the consequences of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the psychiatric care and development of children and adolescents infected by HIV. From a search of all the English-language-based literature on pediatric AIDS, 140 studies are reviewed which address HIV infection and its psychological and social implications. Several topics of mental health significance are examined: (1) the epidemiology of HIV, (2) neurocognitive development among those infected, (3) psychological impact of infection, and (4) the family and social context of HIV. The transition of HIV from an acute, lethal disease to a subacute, chronic disease has enormous implications for the neurocognitive and psychosocial development of children and families. As children and adolescents infected with HIV continue to live longer, normal developmental milestones and educational needs will take on new significance. Many children will continue to be adversely impacted by non-HIV factors such as poverty, inadequate medical services, and a lack of social support. This review outlines recent developments that hold promise to effectively reduce the treatment burden on the infected, their families, and health care providers and to decrease the incidence of transmission to the uninfected.

Developmental psychology and the study of behaviour and emotion have tended to be considered in parallel to the study of neurobiological processes. This review explores the effects of child abuse and neglect on the brain, excluding nonaccidental injury that causes gross physical trauma to the brain. It commences with a background summary of the nature, context, and some deleterious effects of omission and commission within child maltreatment. There is no post-maltreatment syndrome, outcomes varying with many factors including nature, duration, and interpersonal context of the maltreatment as well as the nature of later intervention. There then follows a section on environmental influences on brain development, demonstrating the dependence of the orderly process of neurodevelopment on the child's environment. Ontogenesis, or the development of the self through self-determination, proceeds in the context of the nature–nurture interaction. As a prelude to reviewing the neurobiology of child abuse and neglect, the next section is concerned with bridging the mind and the brain. Here, neurobiological processes, including cellular, biochemical, and neurophysiological processes, are examined alongside their behavioural, cognitive, and emotional equivalents and vice versa. Child maltreatment is a potent source of stress and the stress response is therefore discussed in some detail. Evidence is outlined for the buffering effects of a secure attachment on the stress response. The section dealing with actual effects on the brain of child abuse and neglect discusses manifestations of the stress response including dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and parasympathetic and catecholamine responses. Recent evidence about reduction in brain volume following child abuse and neglect is also outlined. Some biochemical, functional, and structural changes in the brain that are not reflections of the stress response are observed following child maltreatment. The mechanisms bringing about these changes are less clearly understood and may well be related to early and more chronic abuse and neglect affecting the process of brain development. The behavioural and emotional concomitants of their neurobiological manifestations are discussed. The importance of early intervention and attention to the chronicity of environmental adversity may indicate the need for permanent alternative caregivers, in order to preserve the development of the most vulnerable children.

In this paper, we review current issues in cognitive assessment. After addressing important definitional and theoretical issues, we discuss some recently developed cognitive assessment instruments as well as some recently revised instruments. Tests that are scheduled for revision will also be mentioned. As most readers are generally familiar with the widely used and nationally standardized IQ tests, we will summarize these tests according to their general usage. The testing of intelligence has been a major focus and contribution since the early days of Psychology, when the birthplace of the intelligence testing movement began in France with the work of Alfred Binet toward the end of the 19th century. Many of the most widely known and used IQ tests have been developed in the U.S.A. and are used internationally. In addition, other IQ tests have been developed in many other countries outside the U.S.A. The use of IQ tests and selected assessment considerations will be reviewed. Finally, we make some predictions about the future role of cognitive assessment in the coming century.