Helen Egger
Helen Egger, MD., Center for Developmental Epidemiology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
BIO: Dr. Egger, a child psychiatrist and epidemiologist, graduated from Yale Medical School and completed her residencies and post-doctoral research training at Duke University Medical Center. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Center for Developmental Epidemiology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Egger’s research focuses on presentation, course, and biological and environmental causes of psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety disorders, in preschool children. She is lead author of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA), the first comprehensive structured parent interview for assessing psychiatric symptoms and disorders in preschool children. Her current research uses functional neuroimaging to examine dysfunctions of the neural circuitry in children with early onset anxiety disorders. She is leading the development of an early childhood neuroimaging program within the Center for Developmental Epidemiology and Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC) at Duke. Dr. Egger is clinical director of the Duke Preschool Psychiatric Clinic. She serves in leadership positions for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is a Board member for Zero to Three.
PRESENTATION TITLE AND DESCRIPTION:
The Prevalence and Impact of Medical Illness and Injury on Young Children: Perspectives from Developmental Epidemiology and Infant Mental Health
Dr. Egger will review the epidemiology of medical injury, illness, and trauma in young children and their associations with children’s emotional and behavioral problems, parental distress and psychiatric symptoms, as well as child and family impairment in functioning during and after these medical traumas. Dr. Egger re-examined the data from her large community study of mental health in preschoolers to assess the prevalence of medical illness and injury in these young children, following her experience with a life threatening illness with her son.
At the completion of this presentation, the participant will:
- Recognize the prevalence of pediatric medical trauma and the impact on infant and early childhood mental health.
- Understand the need to expand assessment measures of the etiology of psychopathology in young children to include the first years of life.
- Reflect on why pediatric illness and injury have not previously been in the purview of infant mental health research and intervention.