(10) Developmental Psychopathology Flashcards
What is the The normative principle?
we judge in comparison to what is considered ‘normal’, e.g. 2-year-old having tantrums is normal, but not 10/11-year-old
What is the The early precursors principle?
we need to look for early warning signs, e.g. children who are antisocial, rejected by peers
What is the The multiple pathways principle?
we must consider multiple levels of functioning (e.g. genetic, social), how they interact together
What is the Medical model?
disorders come from within
What is the Social model?
opposite of medical model, what causes abnormality externally, the role of society, different from the rest of society
What is the Statistical model?
deviation from average
What is Diagnosis reliability?
overlap between symptoms, would two clinicians give the same diagnosis?, a measure of how often two or more clinicians arrive independently at the same diagnosis of a particular disorder
What can over diagnosis lead to?
Over medication
What are Under controlled disorders?
the child appears to lack self-control, has a negative impact on others e.g. Conduct Disorder, ADHD
What is Over controlled disorders?
the child appears overly controlled, withdrawn, negative, e.g. depression
What is Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD)?
difficulties in cognitive, emotional and social development e.g Autism
What is conduct disorder?
Characterised by behaviour that violates the rights of others or major societal norms
Who is conduct disorder more common in?
Boys
What are behvaiours of conduct disorder?
- More likely to commit crimes
- Aggression to people and animals e.g. bullying traits, physical fighting
- Destruction of property
- Deceitfulness or theft
- Serious violations of rules, e.g. parental rules, missing school
What are traits of conduct disorder?
- lack of guilt and empathy for victims and callous behaviour for self-gain
- Highly heritable, e.g. identical twins
- Difficulties with emotion processing, recognising facial expressions and fear, e.g. amygdala show weaker response to fear
What can cause conduct disorder?
-Impulsiveness, not thinking of consequences
-Low IQ and low education attainment
-Child abuse
-Parental conflict and disrupted families
-Socioeconomic factors
-Community influences
(Murray et al 2010)
How can conduct disorder be treated?
- Can be hard to treat
- Many treatments (e.g. problem-solving skills or anger coping therapy) ineffective (Brestan and Eyberg, 1998)
- Parenting interventions have some success – focus on rewarding desirable behaviour, handling bad behaviour, time out etc. But CD tends to be resistant treatment
- More successful if early (Webster-Stratton et al, 2001)
What is ADHD?
- Inattention, overactivity and impulsivity, acts before thinking
- Boys diagnosed with ADHD twice as much as girls
- Association with anxiety, low self-esteem and learning disabilities
- Problems persist into adolescence and adulthood
What can cause ADHD?
- Genetic component: highly heritable – heritability 76%
- Brain differences: frontal lobes delayed in development, smaller, under-activated
- Environmental factors: poverty, education, parenting, divorce, social class, maternal health
How can ADHD be treated? (drugs)
- Psychostimulant medication e.g. methylphenidate (Ritalin)
- Increases attention, positive effects for 50-96% of children with ADHD
- But risk of misuse and side effects (Singh, 2008), e.g. selling to peers
How can ADHD be treated? (therapy)
- Psychosocial treatments, e.g. behavioural and cognitive behavioural therapy, such as control and social skills
- Which treatment works best?
- Children receiving medication or medication and therapy showed greatest improvement (Van der Oord et al 2008)
What is depression in children?
- Previously seen as an adult disorder
- Persistent and pervasive sadness
- Loss of interest and pleasure in activities
What symptoms are associated with depressed children?
Associated symptoms: low self-esteem, sleep and appetite changes, suicidal thoughts/behaviour
When is a child likely to be diagnosed with depression?
Rates of depression – increase in adolescence
-Nearly twice as many girl’s experience depression
What are the key facts about childhood suicide?
- Suicide uncommon before 15 years old
- Second most common cause of death in young people
- Male adolescents more likely to die by suicide
What can cause childhood suicide?
- History of self-harm (71%)
- Risk factors: SES, education, family history, drug and alcohol misuse, depression
What can cause childhood depression?
- Biological factors: serotonin
- Heritable – some genetic component (but interplay between genes x environment important)
- Social/psychological factors: family/peer conflict, neglect, bullying
- Cognitive factors: learned helplessness (Seligman, 1974): feel like they have failed to achieve desired outcome in life
How can depression be treated?
- Anti-depressants
- Mixed results on effectiveness for children and adolescents
- Some adolescents who take certain anti-depressants show higher rate of suicidal ideation
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Focus on individual, provide strategies
- May be more effective than medication for adolescents
What is autism?
A life-long neurodevelopmental condition, diagnosed more in boys, might look different in girls
What are key traits of autism?
- Difficulties with social communication and social interaction, hard to make friends and read body language
- Restricted and repetitive behaviour and interests, very focused
- Sensory sensitivities, e.g. lights, noises, textures
What can cause autism?
- Biological factors
- Genetic (but no single gene)
- Brain differences (shape, structure)
- Environmental factors? Not the following; vaccines, refrigerator mothers, television and internet
- Cognitive: theory of mind, executive dysfunction, weak central coherence
What is the theory of mind?
The ability to understand that other people have thoughts, feelings and beliefs (mind reading)
When does theory of mind develop?
- Children without autism develop this ability at age 4
- Autistic individuals may not develop a Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen et al, 1985)
What are Executive functions?
switching focus, self-regulation, self-control, forward planning, autistic children have trouble with this
What is weak central coherence?
-Processing of the parts rather than the whole
What treatment is there for autism?
- There is no cure for autism
- Applied behaviour analysis (ABA): rewarding and reinforcing “positive” behaviour, discouraging “negative” behaviour
- Communication and social skills Speech and language therapy, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
