French classification for child and adolescent mental disorders.

This report presents the French Classification of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders (CFTMEA), operational since 1983 and validated through a broad multicentric study. CFTMEA is now the classification of reference for French child psychiatrists, who appear to be comfortable with it because it fits their diagnostic and therapeutic work. It bases its clinical categories on a psychopathological approach which includes an appraisal of potentials and prognosis. CFTMEA is deliberately built on two quite distinct axes: Axis I: basic clinical categories, and Axis II: associated and possibly etiological factors. The CFTMEA favors a broad appraisal of the disorders that it classifies, seeking whenever possible to establish a structural diagnosis based on psychodynamic psychopathology. The CFTMEA does not claim to be atheoretical, but does not impose a theoretical allegiance, because it is compatible with any etiological concepts. The CFTMEA's last revision (R 2000) is in an advanced phase of validation.