[«The child is father of the man» - review of literature on epidemiology in child and adolescent psychiatry].

One of the goals of epidemiological research is to describe the frequency and patterns in the distribution of diseases among certain groups of a statistical population. According to the literature available, mental disorders in children and adolescents are a common phenomenon worldwide. This article provides a review of the most important and recent international studies on the magnitude, on patterns of distribution, on the course and on gender differences of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Additional data from scientific textbooks are added to the original articles.