Developmental psychology and
psychopathology
Part 1
Themes
Introduction
Attachment
Relationships across life
Autism
ODD and CD
ADHD
Substance abuse
, Lecture 1: introduction
Chapter 1 Parritz & Troy: introduction
What is normal?
What is normal?
- Absence of disorders
● Normal: positive quality of life
● Abnormal: negative quality of life
● This is determined by the DSM-5
- The statistical average
● Normal: behaviour that occurs in the majority of the population
● Abnormal: behaviour that occurs in the minority of the population
- As an ideal or desired state (sociocultural norms)
● Normal: meeting the norms and standards of that culture
● Abnormal: not meeting the norms and standards of that culture
o Mostly cause of a difference in expectations (age, gender,
cultural)
● This is culturally dependent
- Successful adaptation (= ability of a person to adapt to their
environment)
● Normal: optimal adaptation (= what’s best) or adequate
adaptation (= what’s good enough or acceptable)
● Abnormal: poor adaptation
Definitions
Psychopathology = intense, frequent and/or persistent maladaptive
patterns of emotion, cognition and behavior
,Developmental psychology = maladaptive patterns occur in the context of
typical development and result in the current and potential impairment of
infants, children and adolescents
Developmental epidemiology = research into frequencies and patterns of
disorders
- Prevalence (= proportion people in the population with the disorder)
- Incidence (= the rate at which new cases arise)
Stigma
Stigma is composed of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
- Is created by the media by blowing the disorder out of proportion
- If the disorder is shown in a truthful way, it could reduce stigma
Stigma levels
- Public
- Personal: what you think of another person
- Self-stigma: you internalize the stigma (which was public)
● Is harmful
Chapter 2 Parritz & Troy: models of child development,
psychopathology and treatment
Introduction
There are 2 kinds of models
- Discontinuous models (categorical): bounded and qualitative
differences between normal and abnormal development
● There are clear distinctions between what’s normal and what’s
not
- Continuous models (dimensional): gradual scale from normal to
abnormal
● Feelings, thoughts and behaviours slowly become more serious
problems
There are 6 explanatory models
, - Physiological models: physiological (genetic, structural, biological, or
chemical) basis for psychological processes
- Psychodynamic models: focusses on the unconscious processes we
have, the mental representations, relationships
- Behavioural and cognitive models: environment has powerful effects
on development of personality and psychopathology
- Humanistic models: emphasizes personally meaningful experiences,
innate motivations for healthy growth, and the child’s purposeful
creation of self (e.g. Maslow)
- Family or systematic models: understanding of personality and
psychopathology of the child based on family dynamics
- Sociocultural models: culture is not only the background for
development; rather, it is a major influence on development itself
Physiological models
There are physiological (hormones, genes, ...) bases for all psychological
processes and events
A balance between plasticity and stability is crucial
Polygenetic models = models that emphasize the findings that many
genes have small effects
Diathesis/stress model = interaction of genetics (predisposition) and
environment (a disorder only shows up if the environment “helps”)
- Differential susceptibility = some children do worse in worse
environments but are doing better than average in good
environments (sensitive to good and bad influences)
● Can be very specific to the situation
Psychodynamic models
The earlier version was from Freud
Focusses on
- Unconscious processes we have
- Mental representations
- Meaningfulness of individual experiences
psychopathology
Part 1
Themes
Introduction
Attachment
Relationships across life
Autism
ODD and CD
ADHD
Substance abuse
, Lecture 1: introduction
Chapter 1 Parritz & Troy: introduction
What is normal?
What is normal?
- Absence of disorders
● Normal: positive quality of life
● Abnormal: negative quality of life
● This is determined by the DSM-5
- The statistical average
● Normal: behaviour that occurs in the majority of the population
● Abnormal: behaviour that occurs in the minority of the population
- As an ideal or desired state (sociocultural norms)
● Normal: meeting the norms and standards of that culture
● Abnormal: not meeting the norms and standards of that culture
o Mostly cause of a difference in expectations (age, gender,
cultural)
● This is culturally dependent
- Successful adaptation (= ability of a person to adapt to their
environment)
● Normal: optimal adaptation (= what’s best) or adequate
adaptation (= what’s good enough or acceptable)
● Abnormal: poor adaptation
Definitions
Psychopathology = intense, frequent and/or persistent maladaptive
patterns of emotion, cognition and behavior
,Developmental psychology = maladaptive patterns occur in the context of
typical development and result in the current and potential impairment of
infants, children and adolescents
Developmental epidemiology = research into frequencies and patterns of
disorders
- Prevalence (= proportion people in the population with the disorder)
- Incidence (= the rate at which new cases arise)
Stigma
Stigma is composed of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
- Is created by the media by blowing the disorder out of proportion
- If the disorder is shown in a truthful way, it could reduce stigma
Stigma levels
- Public
- Personal: what you think of another person
- Self-stigma: you internalize the stigma (which was public)
● Is harmful
Chapter 2 Parritz & Troy: models of child development,
psychopathology and treatment
Introduction
There are 2 kinds of models
- Discontinuous models (categorical): bounded and qualitative
differences between normal and abnormal development
● There are clear distinctions between what’s normal and what’s
not
- Continuous models (dimensional): gradual scale from normal to
abnormal
● Feelings, thoughts and behaviours slowly become more serious
problems
There are 6 explanatory models
, - Physiological models: physiological (genetic, structural, biological, or
chemical) basis for psychological processes
- Psychodynamic models: focusses on the unconscious processes we
have, the mental representations, relationships
- Behavioural and cognitive models: environment has powerful effects
on development of personality and psychopathology
- Humanistic models: emphasizes personally meaningful experiences,
innate motivations for healthy growth, and the child’s purposeful
creation of self (e.g. Maslow)
- Family or systematic models: understanding of personality and
psychopathology of the child based on family dynamics
- Sociocultural models: culture is not only the background for
development; rather, it is a major influence on development itself
Physiological models
There are physiological (hormones, genes, ...) bases for all psychological
processes and events
A balance between plasticity and stability is crucial
Polygenetic models = models that emphasize the findings that many
genes have small effects
Diathesis/stress model = interaction of genetics (predisposition) and
environment (a disorder only shows up if the environment “helps”)
- Differential susceptibility = some children do worse in worse
environments but are doing better than average in good
environments (sensitive to good and bad influences)
● Can be very specific to the situation
Psychodynamic models
The earlier version was from Freud
Focusses on
- Unconscious processes we have
- Mental representations
- Meaningfulness of individual experiences
