412 Chapter 1 Flashcards
what are the main issues in child psychology
- defining normal/abnormal behaviour for various ages, sexes, cultural backgrounds
- causes and correlates
- predictions for long-term outcomes
- methods of treatment and prevention
- figuring out the ‘problem’ (children are referred by adults)
Victor of Aveyron
- Jean-Marc Itard took care of him after he had been living in the woods without socialization because he wanted to show that his neglect could be reversed - only small changes
- beginnings of understandings that early environments could contribute to mental disorders
John Locke
- started a philosophy of humane care and social protection (individual rights)
who contributed to a new philosophy of care for children?
- John Locke
- Jean-Marc Itard
- Leta Hollingworth: defective children were suffering from emotional/behavioural problems caused by bad treatment by adults
- Benjamin Rush: children are incapable of insanity because their brains are still underdeveloped
- Dorothea Dix: organic disease model, established humane mental hospitals for youths
- Clifford Beers: criticized ignorance and tried to disseminate reliable information based on the biological model
Freud’s renewed optimism in treatment
- tracing roots to early childhood
- both inborn drives and experiences affect child psychopathology (contrary to the popular view that it resides within a person)
- proper experiences/context can help treat
- incorporates developmental stages
psychological disorder
- pattern of cognitive, behavioural, emotional, physical symptoms
- causes distress, disability (interferes with daily functioning), distress and disability increase risk of harm
competence
child’s ability to adapt successfully within an environment
developmental competence
ability to use internal and external resources to achieve adaptation
developmental tasks
assessing competence in conduct and academic achievement
developmental tasks infancy to preschool
- attachment to caregiver
- language
- differentiation of the self from the environment
developmental tasks middle childhood
- Self-control, compliance
- School adjustment
- Academic achievement
- Getting along with peers
- Following rules, prosocial conduct
developmental tasks adolescence
- Transition to secondary
- Academic achievement
- Extracurriculars
- Close friendships within/across gender
- Cohesive self-identity
developmental pathway
- sequence and timing of behaviours and relationships between behaviours
- maltreatment can alter the initial course of development
multifinality
- similar beginning can lead to various outcomes
equifinality
- many different beginnings can lead to the same outcome
risk factor
precedes a negative outcome of interest and increases the chances that the negative outcome will occur
protective factor
- personal or situational variable that reduces the chances for child to develop a disorder
- strength of the individual, strength of the family, strength of the school and community
resilience
sustained competence while under stress or rebound to a previously healthy level of competence after a traumatic experience
poverty and SES disadvantage
- impairments in learning ability and school achievement
- affects the PFC: reduced impulse control and judgment
- greater inequality and powerlessness = greater impact on mental health
more common disorders in boys
hyperactivity, autism, childhood disruptive disorders, learning and communication disorders (more neurodevelopmental disorders with onset in childhood)
more common disorders in girls
anxiety, depression, eating disorders (emotional disorders with onset in adolescence)
externalizing problems
- acting-out (aggression and delinquent behaviour)
- higher prevalence in boys at a younger age, then decreases and converges with girls rates at age 18
internalizing problems
- anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, withdrawn behaviour
- equal prevalence at an early age for boys and girls, then diverges to be higher for girls at age 18
resilience predictors in boys
- male role model, structure and rules, encouragement of emotional expression
resilience predictors in girls
- encouragement of risk-taking and independence, support from a female caregiver
potential signs of abnormal behaviour
- norm violation (norms are culturally-bound and depends on your reference group)
- statistical rarity (also depends on reference group, some Bx may be statistically rare but don’t cause problems like high IQ, some DSM disorders aren’t statistically rare)
- personal discomfort (may depend on the person)
- maladaptive Bx (interfering with daily life)
- deviation from an ideal (depends on the expectations, some people don’t find their own Bx to fall short of ideals despite being disorders)
abnormal Bx definition
- pattern of Sx associated with distress, disability, increased risk of harm or suffering
- adaptational failure (failure to meet developmental milestones with typical Bx as a benchmark)
0-2 developmental benchmarks, associated abnormalities, and common disorders
- normal: eating, sleeping, attachment
- Bx problems: stubbornness, temper, toileting difficulties
- disorders: intellectual disability, ASD, feeding disorders
2-5 developmental benchmarks, associated abnormalities, and common disorders
- normal: language, toileting, self-care skills, self-control, peer relationships
- Bx problems: arguing, demanding attention, disobedience, fears, overactivity, resisting bedtime
- disorders: speech and language, problems due to child abuse and neglect, anxiety disorders (phobias)
6-11 developmental benchmarks, associated abnormalities, and common disorders
- normal: academic skills and rules, rule-governed games, simple responsibilities
- Bx problems: arguing, inability to concentrate, self-consciousness, showing off
- disorders: ADHD, learning disorders, school refusal Bx, conduct problems
12-20 developmental benchmarks, associated abnormalities, and common disorders
- normal: romantic relations, personal identity, separation from family (cultural), increased responsibilities
- Bx problems: arguing, bragging
- disorders: anorexia, bulimia, delinquency, suicide attempts, drug and alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, depression
Denver Development Screening Test (DDST)
- shows when certain Bx are expected relative to a large reference sample
- to see whether kids are developing according to norms
lifespan consequences associated with child psychopathology
- impacts on social, occupational functioning will be more severe if a problem goes untreated for longer (20% of kids with the most severe and chronic disorders face lifelong consequences)
contributions to development of psychopathology
- gender: males in childhood with externalizing problems, females in adolescence with internalizing problems (gender differences may emerge during puberty due to social and biological factors)
- poverty and SES disadvantage: poverty linked with higher rates of many disorders
- racial/ethnic disparities: may be partly due to how clinicans interpret certain behaviours (bias in diagnostic practices)
- culture: meaning of behaviour is interpreted differently, expression of symptoms varies (taijin kyofusho vs. social anxiety), reporting of symptoms varies (reporting physical issues when there is an underlying mental reason)
bias in diagnostic practices in terms of Black youth
- more likely to be diagnosed with disruptive disorders, and less likely to be diagnosed with mood and substance use disorders
- likely to be kicked out of school, go to prison, develop other disorders
LGBTQ+ youth
- more likely to be victimized by family and peers (verbal abuse, physical attacks, assault, sexual assault)
- this disproportionate level of stressors contributes to the onset of different disorders
diathesis
underlying vulnerability or tendency toward disorder
can be contextual (family), biological (genetics), experience-based (certain triggering events)
stress
situation or challenge that calls on resources (external negative event)
differential susceptibility
- some children are more susceptible to the effects of their environments, both good and bad (there are also protective factors)
diathesis-stress
- some children are more susceptible to the negative effects of a problematic environment
- underlying vulnerability interacts with stress experience to produce disorder/no disorder (you still need stressors to get there, but your starting point is pushed closer)
- diathesis will vary in your lifetime - social context will change, epigenetics, diet, lifestyle
strengths of the diathesis-stress model
- organizes nature and nurture - no disorder is caused by ‘just genes’ or ‘just stress,’ brain changes in response to the environment (plasticity), genes change in response to the environment (behavioural epigenetics)
- not deterministic, just probabilistic - can have multiple interacting diatheses and stressors
