Substance-related disorders create a substantial psychosocial burden of disease worldwide. They usually develop during childhood and adolescence: it is particularly difficult for young adults who start experimenting with the use of psychoactive substances to learn the boundaries between normal use and abuse. This book provides a scientifically well-founded and practically oriented overview of the clinical picture, development and diagnosis of addiction disorders and development-oriented approaches to addiction therapy and prevention.

Dr. Nicolas Arnaud, qualified psychologist, is a researcher at the German Centre for Addiction Issues in Childhood and Adolescence (DZSKJ) at Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital. Prof. Rainer Thomasius is Medical Director of the DZSKJ, President of the German Society for Addiction Research and Therapy, and Chairman of the Joint Addiction Commission of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Society and Associations.