ESCAP member profile

Croatia

CROATIAN SOCIETY FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY OF THE CROATIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (CMA-CSCAPP) or Hrvatsko društvo za dječju i adolescentnu psihijatriju i psihoterapiju pri Hrvatskom liječničkom Zboru (HLZ-HDDAPP)

36 members

A brief overview:

The roots of child and adolescent psychiatry in Croatia trace back more than eight decades, to the University Hospital Centre Zagreb and the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. Its foundations were laid by the pioneering efforts of Professor Maja Beck Dvoržak, who began working with children and adolescents with psychological disorders immediately after the Second World War, paving the way for the development of this medical field in the country.

The Society was officially established on April 24, 2003, at its inaugural meeting. Since then, it has been actively pursuing its objectives and fostering strong collaborative ties with numerous institutions, including all the Schools of Medicine and Universities in Croatia (Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, and Split), with particularly close cooperation with the School of Medicine in Zagreb. In addition, the Society regularly organizes professional gatherings and scientific meetings. The work of the Society is guided by its Statute and other general acts of the Croatian Medical Association, as well as by its own internal regulations. Over the past decade, the field of child and adolescent psychiatry in Croatia has undergone remarkable progress. At present, the country has approximately 60 specialists and subspecialists in this discipline. Among them, 22 have completed the new program accredited exclusively for specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry, which has been recognized as an independent specialization in Croatia since 2011. In addition, there are currently around 40 residents specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry (with no shared residency training “trunk” with adult psychiatry), in line with UEMS-CAP criteria. The specialist medical training for child and adolescent psychiatrists in Croatia lasts five years. On this basis, child and adolescent psychiatry is considered a well-regarded and attractive specialty in Croatia. In 2025, an independent Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was established in Croatia, separate from the academic and organizational structures of pediatrics and adult psychiatry. Furthermore, Croatia has a national reference center for child and adolescent psychiatry at the Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, officially recognized by the Ministry of Health.

The challenges faced by our society in Croatia today in the field of child and adolescent mental health and psychiatry include:

• Respecting the needs of children with mental disorders and their parents, while effectively combating the stigma associated with these conditions;
• Recognizing child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy as independent medical specialties, and ensuring the availability of high-quality psychiatric and psychotherapeutic interventions;
• Guaranteeing high standards of education and training for medical residents in child and adolescent psychiatry, in line with other developed countries of the European Union;
• Addressing the psychological consequences of the major earthquakes in Zagreb (March 22, 2020) and Petrinja (December 28–29, 2020), as well as the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entire population;
• Promoting the values of openness, social sensitivity, inclusivity, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Documents:

• Nikolić S, Rudan V, Vidovic V. Child and adolescent psychiatry in Croatia. In: Remschmidt H. & van Engeland H. Child and adolescent psychiatry in Europe - Historical development, current situation and future perspectives. Darmstadt: Steinkopff & New York: Springer, 1999, 41- 54.
• Begovac I. Zavod za dječju i adolescentnu psihijatriju i psihoterapiju pri KBC-u Zagreb – kratka povijest i sadašnje stanje / The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Unit at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb - A Brief Historical Overview and Current Situation. Socijalna psihijatrija 2022 50;2:163-186. Free available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/421068
• Ivan Begovac et al. (Chief editor). Child and adolescent psychiatry, e-edition (In Croatian): University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, 2021. Available for free at the digital repository of the Zagreb School of Medicine: https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:105:694914 The book comprises 1123 pages and 81 chapters. It was written by 38 co-authors and it is the first university textbook of the Zagreb School of Medicine published only in the e-textbook version.

Board members:

• Ivan Begovac, President
• Mirjana Graovac, The first vicepresident
• Aleksandra Klobučar, The second vicepresident
• Gordan Majić, Treasurer
• Iris Žunić Išasegi, Secretary

Contact:

CROATIAN SOCIETY FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY OF THE CROATIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Kišpatićeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Phone: +385 1 2376 504

E-mail: ivan.begovac@mef.hr; irisisasegi@gmail.com;

Last update: 7 October 2025