Ch 17 Clinical Child/Adolescent Psychology Flashcards
Clinical Child Psychology
an area of specialization within clinical psychology focusing on issues of children
pediatric psychology
a speciality area within clinical child psychology focusing on the mental and physical health of children with medical conditions
Disorders of Childhood
common among children - ADHD, conduct disorder, oppositional disorder, and separation anxiety disorder
some may be diagnosed with disorders that are more common in adults - depression, PTSD, eating disorders, etc - but diagnofstic criterial are adjusted
children’s psychological problems are divided into two broad classed
- externalizing disorders
2. internalizing disorders
externalizing disorders
when a child “acts out” and often becomes disruptive
- e.g. ADHD, conduct disorders, and oppositional defiant disorders
internalizing disorders
often less noticeable such as maladaptive thoughts and feelings
- e.g. depression and anxiety
why do some children develop psychological disorders and some don’t?
resilience and vulnerability
- children from similar environment and experiences have very different kinds or degrees of psychological or behavior problems
resilience
in psychodynamic psychotherapy, client behavior that impedes discussion or conscious awareness of selected topics or emotions
vulnerability
in contrast to resilience, the tendency to experience psychological problems in the presence of risk factors
risk factors that contribute to a child’s vulnerability
- environmental factors
- parental factors
- child (internal) factors
environment factors
poverty, serious emotional conflict among parents, single parenthood, and excessive number of children in the home, neighborhood or community factors, and poor schooling
parental factors
poor parental physical/mental health, low parent IQ, and hypercritical tendencies in the parents
- the more psychological problems parents have, the more psychological problems their children are likely to have
- siblings relationship also have an impact
child (internal) factors
medial problems, difficult temperament, low IQ, poor academic achievement, and social skills deficits
risk factors that contribute to a child’s resilience
- external support
- inner strengths
- interpersonal problem-solving skills
- interventions by clinical child psychologists can enhance these factors, effectively making child more resilient to current/future stressors
external support
“I Have”
- people in my family I can trust and who love me
- people outside my family I can trust
- limits to my behaviors
inner strength
“I Am”
- a person most people like
- generally a good boy/girl
- an achiever who plans for the future
interpersonal and problem solving skills
“I Can”
- generate new ideas or new ways to do things
- work hard at something until it is finished
- see the humor in life
it matters whether children believe they can change their personality traits – IMPLICIT THEORY
whether characteristics are fixed or malleable
Fixed (Entity Theory)
- “I am shy, and there’s nothing I can do about it”
- most likely to lead to mental health props (meta-analysis of 7 studies found that kids 4-19 yo had more frequent and more severe psychological diagnoses, both internalizing and externalizing, if they held a fixed/entity theory about themselves
Malleable (Incremental Theory)
- “I am shy, but I can overcome it”
developmental perspective
an essential aspect of clinical child psychology whereby clinicians understand the child’s behavior within the context of the child’s developing stage
- problems of childhood may take on different meanings and call for different clinical interventions depending on their commonality for children at a given age
- e.g. child smoking at 7 vs 17 yield for different severity of problem