Parenthood and Mental Health / World Psychiatric Association (PDF)

Across all cultures parenting is the foundation of family life. It
is the domain where adult mental health meets infant development.
Beginning in pregnancy, parenting involves many conscious and
unconscious processes which have recently been shown to affect
a child's development significantly. This book focuses on
pregnancy and the first year of life, providing a thorough account
of the points of encounter between adult and infant psychiatry. In
a fresh and comprehensive way, it summarises knowledge about early
parenting, including a critical analysis of parenting, what it
means to be a "good enough parent", and its relationship to infant,
parent and family outcomes. In addition to the psychiatric
dimension, the book emphasises the biological aspects of parenting,
parental psychopathology and normal and abnormal infant
development.

Praise for Parenting and Mental Health:

"Tyano, Keren, Herrman and Cox have edited a
thoughtfully prepared guide on normal and abnormal parenting. They
have, with enormous skill and wisdom, helped to unite the important
aspects of pregnancy, infant and childhood development and
parenting for adult and child and adolescent psychiatrists.
World-class internationally recognized clinicians and researchers
help make this book useful throughout the world. This is a
masterful, culturally sensitive and important book which provides a
long overdue and much needed guide on relationships among children,
parents and families."

--Michelle Riba, M.D., M.S., Professor and Associate
Chair for Integrated Medical and Psychiatric Services, Department
of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, USA

"During recent decades, progress in the field of infant
mental health has been revolutionary; at the same time, there has
been rapid development in women's mental health. By bringing
these two together, this pioneering book leads its readers to the
vital new focal point around perinatal mental health. The book
integrates the origins of developmental psychiatry in attachment
and systemic contexts and shows concretely how relationship
experiences and biology interact when new life begins.

After describing the fascinating world of early parenting, the
book focuses on problems, difficulties and disorders during this
phase of life and above all on how to support, intervene and treat
disorders in parenting. When infants, mothers and fathers are
understood in a holistic way, professionals in many fields will be
able to promote the transmission of meaningful life through
parenthood and parenting."

--Tuula Tamminen, Professor of Child Psychiatry,
University of Tampere, Finland; Past-President of World Association
for Infant Mental Health, President of European Society for Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry

Cover design by Reouth Keren