Epidemiology and Long term perspective on Mental Health

Theme: Antropology and intellectual disability Evidence-based Mental Health promotion interventions consequent to the Australian Child to Adult Development study of Mental Health in Intellectual Disability Prof. Bruce J. Tonge (AUS) co-referent: Knut Hofman (G)	Prof. Bruce J. Tonge
The Australian Child to Adult Development Study, which has documented the mental health of young people with ID since 1990, has produced evidence of the significant association between parental mental health problems and emotional and behavioural problems in their child with ID. As a consequence, the effectiveness of parent education and skills training as an intervention to improve parental mental health and the behaviour of their child has been investigated for parents of young children with autism, for parents with adolescent children with autism, and for parents with anxious children with ID. These manualized interventions have all been shown to be effective in promoting parental and child mental health compared to control families at long-term follow up. Therefore there is benefit in the addition of parent education and skills training to existing child focussed interventions for children with ID particularly at times of transition such as from primary school to secondary school.
Professor Bruce J. Tonge Qualifications: MBBS, MD, DPM, MRC Psych,FRANZCP, Cert. Child Psych., RANZCP Head, School of Psychology Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine; Head, Discipline of Psychological Medicine, School of Psychology Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine; Director, Clinical & Professional Services Division - School of Psychology Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine; Professor and Head, Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology, Monash University. He is also Clinical Advisor of the Mental Health Program of the Southern Health at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, Australia. He has a distinguished record of teaching and research in child psychiatry. He established and directs the internationally recognised Monash University Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology. He has research and teaching interests in the area of developmental psychiatry with a particular focus in the areas of Autism Spectrum Disorders and behavioural and emotional disturbance in children and adolescents with intellectual disability, and treatment outcome studies in childhood anxiety and depressive disorders. Relevant publications over the past 10 years include: 23 books/book chapters; 137 papers; 5 videos; 5 manuals and 31 invited addresses. He is editor of the Handbook of Studies on Child Psychiatry (Elsevier) and co-author of the Developmental Behaviour Checklist, an instrument which assesses behavioural and emotional problems in children and adolescents with intellectual disability. This instrument is widely used in clinical and research settings in both Australia and internationally.