Developmental Psychopathology (DPP)
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Children and
Adolescents
Research studies in abnormal child psychology seek to address the following questions:
• Defining what constitutes normal and abnormal behavior for children of different ages,
sexes and ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
• Identifying the causes and correlates of abnormal child behavior.
• Making predictions about long-term outcomes.
• Developing and evaluating methods for treatment and/or prevention.
Psychological disorders: a pattern of behavioral, cognitive, or physical symptoms that includes
one or more of the following prominent features:
1. Some degree of distress in the subject;
2. Behavior indicating some degree of disability;
3. And an increased risk of suffering, death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom
Nosologies: the efforts to classify psychiatric disorders into descriptive categories.
Stigma: a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivates fear, rejection, avoidance and
discrimination with respect to people with mental illness.
Historical views and breakthroughs – Section Summary
- Early biological explanations for abnormal child behavior favored locating the cause of the
problem within the individual, which sometimes led to simplistic or inaccurate beliefs about
causes of the behavior.
- Early psychological approaches attempted to integrate basic knowledge of inborn processes with
environmental conditions that shape behavior, emotions and cognitions.
- Greater attention to the problems of children and youths in recent years has improved their
quality of life and mental health. This improvement resulted from greater societal recognition of
and sensitivity to children’s special status and needs since the turn of the twentieth century.
In the city-states of early Greece, children were considered to be servants of the state.
Due to the absence of antibiotics or other medications to cure diseases, only about 1 in 3
children survived their 5th birthday during the 17th and 18th centuries.
John Locke: was a English philosopher of the 17th century and came with the novel idea that
children should be raised with thought and care rather than indifference and harsh treatment.
Dorothea Dix: an advocate for the humane and moral treatment of those afflicted with
psychological problems. She worked tirelessly to help establish 32 mental hospitals dedicated to
the treatment of troubled youths.
Sigmund Freud – Psychoanalytic Theory
• Believed that individuals have in-born drives and predispositions that affect their
development.
• Believed that experience plays a necessary role in psychopathology; children and adults
could be helped with proper environment, therapy, or both.
• Psychoanalytic theory: emphasized that personality and mental health outcomes had
multiple roots.
Equifinality: the concept that similar outcomes may stem from different early experiences.
Multifinality: the concept that various outcomes may stem from similar beginnings.
, What is abnormal behavior in children and adolescents? – Section Summary
- Defining a psychological disorder involves agreement about particular patterns of behavioral,
cognitive, and physical symptoms shown by an individual.
- Terms used to describe abnormal behavior are meant to define behavior, not to be used as labels
to describe individuals.
- Defining abnormal behavior requires judgment concerning the degree to which a person’s
behavior is maladaptive or harmful as well as dysfunctional or impaired.
- Diversity in how children acquire psychological strengths and weaknesses is a hallmark of
abnormal child psychology. The many contributors to abnormal behavior may vary within and
between individuals with similar disorders.
- The study of psychological disorders involves attempts to describe the presenting problems and
abilities, to understand contributing causes, and to treat or prevent them.
- Developmental pathways describe the course and nature of normal and abnormal development.
Competence: the ability to successfully adapt in the environment.
• Children’s competence involves their performance relative to their same-aged peers as well as
their individual course of development.
Developmental pathways: a concept to describe the sequence and timing of particular behaviors
and to highlight the known and suspected relationships of behaviors over time.
Developmental tasks: psychosocial tasks of childhood that reflect broad domains of competence
and tell us how children typically progress within each of these domains as they grow.
Risk and Resilience – Section Summary
- Children’s normal development may be put in jeopardy because of risk factors, which can include
acute, stressful situations and chronic adversity.
- Some children seem to be more resilient in the face of risk factors. Resiliency is related to strong
self-confidence, coping skills, and the ability to avoid risk situations, as well as the ability to fight
off or recover from misfortune.
- Children’s resilience is connected to a protective triad of resources and health-promoting events
that include individual opportunities, close family ties, and opportunities for individual and
family support from community resources.
Resilience: the ability to avoid negative outcomes despite being at risk for psychopathology.
Risk factor: a variable that precedes a negative outcome of interest and increases the chances
that the outcome will occur.
What affects the rates and expression of mental disorders? Some key factors – Section
Summary
- Clear understanding of both normal and abnormal child development and behavior is needed to
decide which problems are likely to continue and which might be outgrown.
- About 1 child in 8 has a mental health problem that significantly impairs functioning.
- A significant proportion of children do not grow out of their childhood difficulties, although the
ways in which these difficulties are expressed are likely to change in both form and severity over
time.
- Mental health problems are unevenly distributed. Children who experience more social and
economic disadvantage or inequality and children exposed to more violent, inadequate, or toxic
environments are disproportionately afflicted with mental health problems.
- A child’s biological sex, ethnic backgrounds, and cultural surroundings are all important
contributors to the manner in which his/her behavioral and emotional problems are expressed to
and recognized by others.
- Many childhood problems can have lifelong consequences for the child and for society.
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Children and
Adolescents
Research studies in abnormal child psychology seek to address the following questions:
• Defining what constitutes normal and abnormal behavior for children of different ages,
sexes and ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
• Identifying the causes and correlates of abnormal child behavior.
• Making predictions about long-term outcomes.
• Developing and evaluating methods for treatment and/or prevention.
Psychological disorders: a pattern of behavioral, cognitive, or physical symptoms that includes
one or more of the following prominent features:
1. Some degree of distress in the subject;
2. Behavior indicating some degree of disability;
3. And an increased risk of suffering, death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom
Nosologies: the efforts to classify psychiatric disorders into descriptive categories.
Stigma: a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivates fear, rejection, avoidance and
discrimination with respect to people with mental illness.
Historical views and breakthroughs – Section Summary
- Early biological explanations for abnormal child behavior favored locating the cause of the
problem within the individual, which sometimes led to simplistic or inaccurate beliefs about
causes of the behavior.
- Early psychological approaches attempted to integrate basic knowledge of inborn processes with
environmental conditions that shape behavior, emotions and cognitions.
- Greater attention to the problems of children and youths in recent years has improved their
quality of life and mental health. This improvement resulted from greater societal recognition of
and sensitivity to children’s special status and needs since the turn of the twentieth century.
In the city-states of early Greece, children were considered to be servants of the state.
Due to the absence of antibiotics or other medications to cure diseases, only about 1 in 3
children survived their 5th birthday during the 17th and 18th centuries.
John Locke: was a English philosopher of the 17th century and came with the novel idea that
children should be raised with thought and care rather than indifference and harsh treatment.
Dorothea Dix: an advocate for the humane and moral treatment of those afflicted with
psychological problems. She worked tirelessly to help establish 32 mental hospitals dedicated to
the treatment of troubled youths.
Sigmund Freud – Psychoanalytic Theory
• Believed that individuals have in-born drives and predispositions that affect their
development.
• Believed that experience plays a necessary role in psychopathology; children and adults
could be helped with proper environment, therapy, or both.
• Psychoanalytic theory: emphasized that personality and mental health outcomes had
multiple roots.
Equifinality: the concept that similar outcomes may stem from different early experiences.
Multifinality: the concept that various outcomes may stem from similar beginnings.
, What is abnormal behavior in children and adolescents? – Section Summary
- Defining a psychological disorder involves agreement about particular patterns of behavioral,
cognitive, and physical symptoms shown by an individual.
- Terms used to describe abnormal behavior are meant to define behavior, not to be used as labels
to describe individuals.
- Defining abnormal behavior requires judgment concerning the degree to which a person’s
behavior is maladaptive or harmful as well as dysfunctional or impaired.
- Diversity in how children acquire psychological strengths and weaknesses is a hallmark of
abnormal child psychology. The many contributors to abnormal behavior may vary within and
between individuals with similar disorders.
- The study of psychological disorders involves attempts to describe the presenting problems and
abilities, to understand contributing causes, and to treat or prevent them.
- Developmental pathways describe the course and nature of normal and abnormal development.
Competence: the ability to successfully adapt in the environment.
• Children’s competence involves their performance relative to their same-aged peers as well as
their individual course of development.
Developmental pathways: a concept to describe the sequence and timing of particular behaviors
and to highlight the known and suspected relationships of behaviors over time.
Developmental tasks: psychosocial tasks of childhood that reflect broad domains of competence
and tell us how children typically progress within each of these domains as they grow.
Risk and Resilience – Section Summary
- Children’s normal development may be put in jeopardy because of risk factors, which can include
acute, stressful situations and chronic adversity.
- Some children seem to be more resilient in the face of risk factors. Resiliency is related to strong
self-confidence, coping skills, and the ability to avoid risk situations, as well as the ability to fight
off or recover from misfortune.
- Children’s resilience is connected to a protective triad of resources and health-promoting events
that include individual opportunities, close family ties, and opportunities for individual and
family support from community resources.
Resilience: the ability to avoid negative outcomes despite being at risk for psychopathology.
Risk factor: a variable that precedes a negative outcome of interest and increases the chances
that the outcome will occur.
What affects the rates and expression of mental disorders? Some key factors – Section
Summary
- Clear understanding of both normal and abnormal child development and behavior is needed to
decide which problems are likely to continue and which might be outgrown.
- About 1 child in 8 has a mental health problem that significantly impairs functioning.
- A significant proportion of children do not grow out of their childhood difficulties, although the
ways in which these difficulties are expressed are likely to change in both form and severity over
time.
- Mental health problems are unevenly distributed. Children who experience more social and
economic disadvantage or inequality and children exposed to more violent, inadequate, or toxic
environments are disproportionately afflicted with mental health problems.
- A child’s biological sex, ethnic backgrounds, and cultural surroundings are all important
contributors to the manner in which his/her behavioral and emotional problems are expressed to
and recognized by others.
- Many childhood problems can have lifelong consequences for the child and for society.
