Unit 1: intro to child psychopathology

Question 1

a pattern of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or physical symptoms shown by an individual

Answer 1

psychological disorder

Question 2

pattern of psychological disorder associated with one or more of the following three prominent features

Answer 2

• some degree of distress
• some degree of disability that interferes with or limits activity
• increased risk of further suffering or harm

Question 3

T or F: the definition of a psychological disorder includes circumstances in which such reactions are expected and appropriate as defined by one’s cultural background

Answer 3

F; the definition of a psychological disorder EXCLUDES circumstances

Question 4

a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivate fear, rejection, avoidance, and discrimination with respect to people with mental illnesses

Answer 4

stigma

Question 5

what is the primary purpose of using terms such as disorder and abnormal behavior?

Answer 5

to aid clinicians and researchers in describing, organizing, and expressing the complex features associated with the various patterns of behavior

Question 6

this study considers not only the degree of maladaptive behavior, but also children’s competence

Answer 6

the study of abnormal child psychology

Question 7

the ability to successfully adapt in the environment

Answer 7

competence

Question 8

the child’s ability to use internal and external resources to achieve a successful adaptation

Answer 8

developmental competence

Question 9

T or F: successful adaptation varies across culture and ethnicity

Answer 9

true

Question 10

these tell how children typically progress within each domain as they grow

Answer 10

developmental tasks

Question 11

it refers to the sequence and timing of particular behaviors, as well as the possible relationships between behaviors over time

Answer 11

developmental pathways

Question 12

it is an active, dynamic process that can account for very different beginnings and outcomes

Answer 12

development

Question 13

what are the two developmental pathways

Answer 13

• multifinality
• equifinality

Question 14

type of developmental pathway: similar early experiences lead to different outcomes

Answer 14

multifinality

Question 15

type of developmental pathway: different early experiences lead to a similar outcome

Answer 15

equifinality

Question 16

these are variables that precede negative outcomes of interest and which increase the probability that the outcomes will occur

Answer 16

risk/vulnerability factors

Question 17

examples of these are community violence, parental divorce, chronic poverty, care-giving deficits, parental mental illness, death of a parent, community disasters, homelessness, family breakup, and perinatal stress

Answer 17

risk factors

Question 18

these are personal or situational variables that reduce the chances for a child to develop a disorder

Answer 18

protective factors

Question 19

it is associated with strong self-confidence, coping skills, ability to avoid risk situations, and ability to fight off or recover from misfortune

Answer 19

resiliency

Question 20

T or F: resilience is not a universal, fixed attribute

Answer 20

true

Question 21

what are the factors that affect rate and expression of mental disorders

Answer 21

• poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage
• sex differences
• race, ethnicity, and culture
• child maltreatment and non-accidental trauma
• sexual minority youths
• lifespan implications

Question 22

it has a significant, but indirect, effect on children’s adjustment, likely due to its association with other negative influences

Answer 22

poverty

Question 23

these appear negligible in children under the age of 3, but increase with age

Answer 23

sex differences

Question 24

boys or girls: they show higher rates of early onset disorders that involve neuro-developmental impairment (autism, ADD, conduct and reading problems)

Answer 24

boys

Question 25

boys or girls: they show more emotional disorders with onset in adolescence (depression and eating disorders)

Answer 25

girls

Question 26

this type of problem includes anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, and withdrawn behavior

Answer 26

internalizing problems

Question 27

this type of problem encompass more acting-out behaviors (aggression and delinquent behavior)

Answer 27

externalizing problems

Question 28

T or F: research on abnormal behavior can be generalized from one culture to another

Answer 28

F; it should not be generalized from one culture to another unless there is support for doing so

Question 29

multidisciplinary perspectives on child psychopathology: the study of abnormal child behavior requires an understanding of developmental processes and of individual and situational events that can influence the course and direction of a child's life

Answer 29

theoretical foundations

Question 30

it is the study of the causes of childhood disorders; it considers how biological, psychological, and environmental processes interact to produce the outcomes that are observed over time

Answer 30

etiology

Question 31

it is an approach to describing and studying disorders of childhood and adolescence in a way that stresses the importance of developmental processes and tasks

Answer 31

developmental psychopathology

Question 32

three prominent assumptions derived from a developmental psychopathology perspective

Answer 32

- abnormal development is multiply determined - child and environment are interdependent - abnormal development involves continuities and discontinuities

Question 33

this implies that developmental changes are gradual and quantitative; future behavior patterns can be predicted from earlier patterns

Answer 33

continuity

Question 34

this implies that developmental changes are abrupt and qualitative; future behavior is poorly predicted by earlier patterns

Answer 34

discontinuity

Question 35

multidisciplinary perspectives on child psychopathology: no single theoretical foundation can explain various behaviors or disorders

Answer 35

integrative approach

Question 36

these have very different symptoms and causes, but they share a common ground--- they are an indication of adaptational failure in one or more areas of development

Answer 36

children's psychological disorders

Question 37

it is the failure to master or progress in accomplishing developmental milestones

Answer 37

adaptational failure

Question 38

this view of development implies an active, dynamic process of continual change and transformation

Answer 38

organizational view of development

Question 39

these are windows of time during which environmental influences on development are enhanced

Answer 39

sensitive periods

Question 40

this perspective considers brain and nervous system functions as underlying cases of psychological disorders in children and adults

Answer 40

neurobiological perspective

Question 41

it is an organized, hierarchial process that builds on earlier functions, with brain structures restructuring and growing throughout the life span

Answer 41

brain maturation

Question 42

these are basic physical and functional units of heredity

Answer 42

genes

Question 43

T or F: most of our behavior, personality and intelligence are determined by many genes, each contributing only a small portion

Answer 43

true

Question 44

he explored gene-environment interactions and their relationship to psychological disorders

Answer 44

eric kandel

Question 45

this model believes hat people develop a psychological disorder in response to stress because they have an underlying predisposition to the disease

Answer 45

diathesis-stress model

Question 46

the more vulnerable a person is and the lower his threshold, the less stress it takes to trigger a disorder

Answer 46

diathesis-stress model

Question 47

this model claims that people with a genetic predisposition to a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder

Answer 47

reciprocal-gene environment model

Question 48

this system regulates certain processes in the body throughout the production of hormones

Answer 48

the endocrine system

Question 49

they make up the regulatory system known as the HPA axis which has been implicated in several disorders, especially in anxiety and mood disorders

Answer 49

- hypothalamus - pituitary glands - adrenal glands

Question 50

the biochemical currents of the brain that make connections between parts of the brain

Answer 50

neurotransmitters

Question 51

neurotransmitters that are most commonly implicated in psychopathology

Answer 51

serotonin, GABA, norepinephrine, and dopamine

Question 52

multidisciplinary perspectives on child psychopathology: this perspective claims that children's inherited characteristics couple with experiences and influences in their environment can shape them

Answer 52

psychological perspectives

Question 53

these are core elements of human psychological experience that serve as important internal monitoring and guidance systems designed to appraise events as either beneficial or dangerous

Answer 53

emotions and affective expression

Question 54

it refers to individual differences in threshold and intensity of emotional experience, which provides clues to an individual's level of distress and sensitivity to the environment

Answer 54

emotion reactivity

Question 55

it involves enhancing, maintaining, or inhibiting emotional arousal, often for a particular purpose of goal

Answer 55

emotion regulation

Question 56

it refers to the child's organized style of behavior that appears early in development, such as fussiness or fearfulness

Answer 56

temperament

Question 57

it is a subset of the broader domain of personality, so it is often considered an early building block of personality

Answer 57

temperament

Question 58

the three primary dimensions of temperament

Answer 58

- positive affect and approach - fearful or inhibited - negative affect or irritability

Question 59

this examines the relationships between behavior and its antecedents and consequences

Answer 59

applied behavior analysis (ABA)

Question 60

ABA is based on four primary operant learning principles

Answer 60

- positive reinforcement - negative reinforcement - extinction - punishment