Introduction
This thematic issue honors the legacy of Lois T. Flaherty, MD, by highlighting contemporary developmental, clinical, cultural, and systems-level issues in adolescent psychiatry. The issue will bring together invited articles, clinical perspectives, reviews, and commentaries addressing the evolving mental health needs of adolescents and transition-age youth. Topics will include identity development, social conformity, psychopharmacology, ADHD treatment innovation, digital media influences, cyberbullying, food addiction, adolescent psychiatry in global settings, structural stigma, and the training and language of psychiatry. Consistent with Dr. Flaherty’s influence on the field, the issue will emphasize clinically meaningful scholarship that connects developmental understanding with practical implications for assessment, treatment, service delivery, and professional formation in adolescent psychiatry.
Keywords
Adolescent Psychiatry, Developmental Psychopathology, Transition-age Youth, Adolescent Mental Health. Psychopharmacology, Digital media, Structural stigma, Global Psychiatry.
Sub-topics
- Developmental psychiatry and identity formation
- Social conformity and long-term mental health outcomes
- ADHD treatment innovation and non-stimulant pharmacotherapy
- Cyberbullying, online communities, incel ideology, and youth violence
- Food addiction, dietary patterns, and adolescent mental health
- Adolescent psychiatry in global and under-resourced settings
- Structural stigma, care precarity, and young parenthood
- Psychiatric language, communication, and professional formation
- Memorial and historical reflections on Dr. Lois T. Flaherty’s contributions
