Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Virtual Issue: ‘The Rutter Effect’ – a celebration of Professor Sir Michael Rutter’s contributions to child psychology and psychiatry This Virtual Issue celebrates Professor Sir Michael has been at the forefront of educating and guiding Rutter’s extraordinary contribution to child and the field to a thorough and integrated understanding adolescent psychology and psychiatry represented of the importance of the complex connections specifically by his writings published in the Journal between genes and environment in the development of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. It is published of psychopathology. as part of the JCPP’s 60th anniversary celebrations. A second key area of influence is covered in paper 4 Rutter has been, and remains, a towering influence (Rutter, Kim-Cohen, & Maughan, 2006; commentary in child and adolescent psychiatry – recognized as a, by Ramchandani) which argues for the importance of if not the, driving force in its transformation from understanding psychiatric disorders as developmen- what even in the 1960s and early 1970s remained a tal constructs and explains why it is so important to rather speculative and subjective endeavor into a understand precursors and pathways from early life fully fledged science. His influence has transcended risks to adult mental health. At the same time, this disciplinary boundaries to have a profound effect on paper refined and delineated many central concepts epidemiology, genetics, developmental psychology, in the field of developmental psychopathology, such social work, and social policy. The counter factual is as vulnerability, protection, resilience, developmental unthinkable – if Rutter had not existed – scientific turning points, and homotypic and heterotypic con- child psychiatry – at least as we know it now – would tinuity: concepts that we now take for granted. not have existed – his influence has been that Following on from that is paper 5 which includes an profound. Rutter’s is a distinctive and rare vision – elegant analysis written with Caspi and Moffitt (Rut- a theoretically sophisticated and clinically commit- ter, Caspi, & Moffitt, 2003; commentaries by both ted adherence to the logic of the scientific method – Klump and Oldehinkel) on how the study of sex driven by the conviction that only reason, grounded differences can be used to parse these sorts of in objective evidence, has the power to separate developmental psychopathological mechanisms. cultural myth about the nature and causes of mental A third theme, represented in our editors’ selec- disorder from clinical reality and drive forward tions, is early adversity and development – especially innovation in the care of children with mental health focusing on the profound effects of institutional care. problems. His intellectual clarity and focus, and Paper 6 therefore examines the outcomes of children tenacious questioning mind is something colleagues raised in UK institutions (Roy, Rutter, & Pickles, from all backgrounds have recognized and 2000; commentary by Gunnar). This is followed by applauded. At the heart of his distinctive form of one of two papers included in the Virtual Issues from creativity is his unparalleled ability to first dissect the natural experiment of the English and Romanian and then synthesize complex ideas and to express Adoptees (ERA) study whereby children spent vary- these with great precision in a way that makes them ing degrees of time in the brutally depriving envi- accessible to scientists and clinicians. Motivated by ronments of the Romanian orphanages and then a rigorous and tireless pursuit of the truth of the were suddenly moved to enriched environments in matter, that abjures the easy payoff or the low English adoptive families (Rutter et al., 2007; com- hanging fruit represented by a more simplistic mentary by Diaz-Stransky & Bloch). This study has empiricism. His form of rigorous conceptual analysis given the field a unique insight into the persistent must remain central to our field, especially in this risks associated with early adversity and the poten- age of enthusiasm for blind big data analytics. tial for developmental catch-up and has had an In total, Rutter has authored 120 JCPP papers and extraordinary impact on the field. counting – the first being published in 1965. Each of Rutter’s seminal contribution to advancing the the 11 papers in the Virtual Issue has been selected by characterization of childhood disorders in general one of our editor colleagues and is accompanied by and autism in particularly is highlighted by the next their reflection on what that work has meant to them two-paper theme. These papers complement each and to the science of child psychology and psychiatry. other beautifully. Paper 8 was a ground-breaking The first three papers illustrate Rutter’s extensive twin study demonstrating for the first time the work on gene–environment interplay (Rutter, Moffitt, striking heritability of autism (Folstein & Rutter, & Caspi, 2006; Rutter, Silberg, O’Connor, & Simon- 1977; comentary by Fombonne). Paper 9, the second off, 1999a, 1999b; commentaries by Gregory & paper from the ERA study, delineated for the first Jaffee). These seminal reviews show how Rutter time a variant of autism-like psychopathology whose © 2019 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA 2 virtual issue origins appear to be environmental in nature and topic of the day: the interplay between genes and the linked to profound deprivation (Rutter et al., 1999; environment – and the focus of the paper on which I commentary by Green). Paper 10 illustrates further am writing this commentary. The paper I have Rutter’s enormous breadth of impact on classifica- selected (Rutter, Moffit & Caspi, 2006) was published tion and measurement – this time in relation to just a few years after the human genome had been disorders of language. In relation to this, we include sequenced and the buzz in the field was palpable. a classic 1975 paper with Professor Yule (Rutter & Together with Professors Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Yule, 1975; commentary by Halperin). Moffitt, he was helping to move the field on from the A characteristic of Rutter’s work has been his furious ‘nature vs nurture’ debate and instead unstinting commitment to bringing data to challenge attempting to further understand and explain the preconceived cultural notions of what constitutes interplay between the two influences. Anyone in optimal or good enough parenting. This has covered doubt about the relationship between genes and the issues relating to maternal deprivation, institutional environment might want to consider how people care, divorce, and nontraditional families. The final behave in response to stress (i.e., clearly an environ- paper (paper 11) illustrates this very well in relation mental influence), such as exams. There are those to parenting and child rearing in same-sex couples who take a metaphorical walk in the park, and others (Golombok, Spencer, & Rutter, 1983; commentary who suffer greatly with anxiety, insomnia, and other by Sitkin Zelin and Bloch). difficulties. Some of these differences in responses to Overall, these selections testify to the staggering environmental challenge are due to genetic variations breadth of Rutter’s vision and the level of scientific between people. impact he has had on the field. Rereading them is In this seminal review, the authors start by contex- humbling and inspiring – yet they cover only about half tualizing the topic historically and present core con- the domains where Rutter’s influence has been felt. In cepts that remain essential. They discuss the a second Virtual Issue, planned for later in the year, we multifactorial origin of most disorders, and note that will extend the scope of our review to illustrate Rutter’s risks are ‘probabilistic, rather than deterministic’. enormous impact on areas such as psychiatric epi- They also outline the different ways in which genes demiology (e.g., the Isle of Wight study), conceptual- and the environment act in concert – describing gene– izing attachment, assessment and measurement environment interactions and correlations and dis- (Rutter scale, SCQ, ADOS), nosology and classification cussing epigenetic mechanisms. They refer to studies (ICD + DSM) and the effects of education. that are seminal in the field, including rat studies by Finally, we had the pleasure of corresponding with Michael Meaney, demonstrating the effects of parent- Professor Rutter about this Virtual Issue, and he was ing on gene expression and stress response in off- at pains to emphasize that all his accomplishments spring. The authors draw upon rich and varied would not have been possible without the support literature to illustrate their points – and in doing so and collaboration of the excellent colleagues he has highlight that single designs alone are often insuffi- had the good fortune to work with over the years. cient to address complex questions and multiple Enjoy this Virtual Issue as you join with us to study designs remain optimal. Fast-forward a decade celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this or so and, as with all genetic research conducted in remarkable scientist and clinician. that era, understanding has moved on as have the methodologies used to address questions. Instead of focusing on candidate genes using modest sample sizes, genome-wide association studies are conducted Paper 1: Gene–environment