Psychosocial pediatrics was the precursor to
the new specialty of developmental-behavioral pediatrics. The inclusion
of a child’s psychological strengths and weaknesses in the
context of a social environment can be found in the work of such
pioneers of pediatrics as George Armstrong, Abraham Jacobi, and
C. Aldrich Anderson. With conceptual and empirical contributions
from neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and education, pediatricians
now have the tools to apply evidence-based technologies in screening,
evaluation, and treatment for many behavioral conditions and disorders
associated with developmental delay.