N&N: Developmental Psychopathology

Question 1

What are the two approaches to developmental psychopathology?
1. C____ d____ approach - psychopathologies are considered to be d____ c____ defined on the basis of criteria proposed by e____
2. E____ q____ approach - psychopathology s____ assessed on a c____ scale, with the d____ being the e____ ends of the d____

Answer 1

1. Clinical diagnostic approach - psychopathologies are considered to be discrete categories defined on the basis of criteria proposed by experts
2. Empirical quantitative approach - psychopathology symptoms are assessed on a continuous scale, with the disorders being the extreme ends of the distribution

Question 2

What are the two different classifications of psychopathology? What are some examples of each classification?

Answer 2

1. Internalising psychopathology - depression, anxiety
2. Externalising psychopathology - conduct problems, ADHD

Question 3

What percentage of psychopathologies have an onset before the age of 25?

Answer 3

75%

Question 4

What are some examples of callous-unemotional traits?

Answer 4

Limited empathy, lack of guilt, shallow affect

Question 4

Define the following components of phenotypic variation (P):
1. Heritability
2. Shared environment
3. Nonshared environment

Answer 4

1. Influences of genetic factors
2. Any environmental influence that contributes to the similarity between co-twins
3. Any aspect of environmental influence that makes co-twins different from each other

Question 5

What is meant by comorbidity?

Answer 5

The co-occurance of two disabilities/disorders
Can be observed at the same time, or one can precede another
Comorbidity suggests common factors or relations between disabilities/disorders

Question 6

In the ACE model, what does each letter represent?

Answer 6

A = additive genetic influences
C = shared environmental influences
E = unique environmental influences

Question 7

How many base pairs is the human genome built with? How much of the DNA sequence is the same for everybody?

Answer 7

3 billion
More than 99% same, so only ~1% is variable

Question 8

Psychopathologies are polygenic traits. What does this mean?
The trait is influenced by more than one g____ v____
Each g____ v____ is a____ to the others: more s____ g____ v____ (alleles) = higher risk of p____

Answer 8

They are influenced by more than one genetic variant
Each genetic variant is additive to the others: more specific genetic variants (alleles) - higher risk of psychopathology

Question 9

What are the two hallmarks of polygenic traits?
1. A ____ ____ distribution
2. A ____ distribution

Answer 9

1. A bell curve distribution
2. A continuous distribution