Topic 12: Developmental Psychopathology

Question 1

What are the 4 ‘D’s’ that signals that something is wrong in the child?

Answer 1

Deviance
Distress
Dysfunction
Danger

Question 2

Where are clinical diagnoses from in the UK?

Answer 2

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder - version 5 (DSM-5)
APA
ICD-10

Question 3

What are the issues with diagnoses?

Answer 3

How to find ‘deviance’ not delay in development
How to avoid ‘culture bound’ diagnoses

Question 4

When do neurodevelopmental disorders typically manifest?

Answer 4

Difficulties commence in the developmental period - which is time before school.

Question 5

What are the difficulties/symptoms reflected in developmental deficits?

Answer 5

• Impairments of personal, social, academic or occupational functioning
• They frequently co-occur together
• They are clinically presented through:
  symptoms of excess, as well as deficits and delays in achieving expected milestones

Question 6

What are examples of neurodevelopmental disorders?

Answer 6

Autism, ADHD, Communication disorder, Intellectual DIsability

Question 7

What is Intellectual Disability?

Answer 7

According to the DSM-5:
Disorder with an onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social and practical domains.
WHO definition is more about having only intellectual deficit.
So problem in identifying the domains of function. i.e. perceptual vs cognitive, social vs objects, literacy vs nonverbal ability

Question 8

In the UK, ‘learning disability’ is used interchangeably with what?

Answer 8

learning difficulty

Question 9

How do we identify the domain in Intellectual disability?

Answer 9

By identifying the mental age - IQ.

Question 10

How can we use case-control methods to identify cognitive deficits?

Answer 10

By matching one individual case to their own reference group. (matched by individual characteristics e.g. age, gender, school, IQ).
includes:
- control group (typically developing children)
- comparison group (atypically developing children)

Question 11

How do we interpret case-control methods to explain/find causes of the developmental psychopathology?/ interpret specificity of impairment?

Answer 11

1. Need to recognise the levels of explanation:
   Biological, Cognitive, Behavioural
   - symptoms = often first characterised in aberrant behaviour (what people notice about others) or poor adaptive function (coping with life goals)
   - cognition = theories offers mechanisms for explanation - if successful, then often intertwined with symptoms/diagnosis
2. Finding causation with cognition:
   - detect universality, use power, value specificity