| Citation | Professor Rutter initiated (with Tizard) the first epidemiological studies in child psychiatry, investigating causal questions such as the role of organic brain dysfunction in the aetiology of psychiatric disorder. In studies of autism he was the first to demonstrate (a) the importance of language and I.Q. as predictors of outcome; (b) an association between autism and later epilepsy; and (c) the importance of genetic factors (with Folstein). He was also the first to evaluate the long-term effects of treatment for autism. He played a major role in the W.H.O. multiaxial approach to classifying childhood psychiatric disorders. He was among the first to use standardized measures to investigate the mechanisms involved in links between childhood events and psychiatric disorder in adult life. He has demonstrated relations between scholastic achievement in school leavers and characteristics of their schools, allowing for differences in scholastic ability on entry. Professor Rutter's work in these and other fields is noted for the links established between epidemiological data and cause-effect relations in individuals. |