Development of a clinical typology for hypochondric conditions in childhood and adolescence
The authors present a clinical typology for hypochondric disorders in childhood and adolescence that is based on studying developmental peculiarities of these conditions and covers phenomenological characteristics of this disorder within the structure of different non-delusional psychopathological conditions belonging to different nosologies. This typology also provides the picture of the structure of hypochondric disorders and shows the prevalence of specific salient clinical variants at different developmental stages (preschool, school-age junior and adolescent), which allows to construct prognostic models and provide differentiated therapies. With due regard for age-related features of psychopathological manifestations, the authors for the first time in child psychiatry distinguish besides thymopathic and over-valued variants also constitutionally-neuropathic variant and the variant with dominant pathological hypochondric fantasies. The article also briefly describes some factors involved in formation of hypochondric disorders in children and adolescents at different stages of development.