Author(s)

Fan Sun

Corresponding Author

Fan Sun

ABSTRACT

In 1960s, the “bio- psycho-social” model was established, which made a new breakthrough in the history of American child mental health in the trend of new social history and became an integral part of medical social history. A survey of the history of American child mental health will help to demonstrate the process of social and organic psychosis developing from medical history to medical social history. The study of American child mental health history combs the development of child mental health history based on three themes: child psychohistory, psychiatry and medical social history, which reflects the examples and epitome of the cross-cutting, integration, innovation and development of medicine, history and psychology under the new social history framework. The study of American child mental health history reveals that the mental health problem of American children has become a social rather than a purely medical problem, which also promotes the change of the treatment concept of American child psychosis. Therefore, the study should follow the characteristics and laws of mental disease in investigating both the pathological and social factors. Thus, the study of American child mental health history from the perspective of medical social history is a breakthrough and also meets the needs of the times. The research in this field in western countries shows the trend of coordinated development of interdisciplinary and holistic, while the related research in China has just started. Therefore, combing the process of American child mental health history is helpful to provide reference and enlightenment for the research of Chinese medical social history.

KEYWORDS

Child psychological history, history of childhood diseases, mental health of American children, new social history