Attitudes of child psychiatrists to electroconvulsive therapy

Abstract

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been recognised as an important method of treatment in adult psychiatric disorders, especially severe depression. However, in spite of increasing concern about the occurrence of depressive disorders among the young (Klerman, 1988), very little is known about the use of ECT in children and adolescents. Indeed the published literature on ECT in this age group consists almost entirely of case reports (Bertagnoli & Borchardt, 1990). This paper is concerned with an important determinant of such practice, the attitudes of child and adolescent psychiatrists.