ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY BY MASH PRACTICE SET
LEARNING REVIEW Questions with Correct Answers (Grade A+)
Question 1: How does the child's progress toward developmental milestones inform our assessment of
whether the child's behavior or thinking is normal or abnormal?
Answer: Many child and adolescent problems involve failure to show expected developmental progress.
Determining the problems requires familiarity with normal, as well as abnormal development. Not just how
much maladaptive stuff they do but also if they do the normal stuff Developmental tasks: conduct (how well
a person follows rules of society), academic achievement.
Question 2: What contributions did psychoanalytic theory make to contemporary conceptualizations of
child psychopathology?
Answer: Freud thought that roots of disorders were from early childhood. People with mental disorders
could be helped Anna discovered that children's symptoms more related to developmental stages than
adults. Melanie Klein: meaning of children's play, terms of unconscious fantasy.
Question 3: How do children with psychological disorders differ from those with normal development
(e.g., type of symptoms, degree or severity of symptoms, impairment)?
Answer: Early signs of mental health problems: -behavior problems -child difficulty controlling emotions
Good mental health: -Curious -Can sit and reflect -Experience love and affection -Get upset when
reasonable and then bring themselves back on their own without intense interference.
Question 4: Name several risk and protective factors for child psychopathology.
Answer: Risk: Minority and poverty, harsh, inconsistent parenting & elevated exposure to stressors
(Community violence, parental divorce. Parental mental illness, homelessness, racial prejudice). Protective:
Strengths of indiv, family, community Better learning environment, community safety. Close relationship to
caring parent. Authoritative parenting, warmth, structure, high expectations, socioeconomic advantages,
extended family. Adults outside the family who take an interest in promoting child's welfare. Social
organizations, effective schools.
Question 5: Define the construct of resilience. What does resilience look like in a child who has
experienced challenges or stressors?
Answer: Survive risky environments by using their strong self-confidence, coping skills, and abilities to
avoid risk situations. Not a universal or fixed attribute, varies according to stressor.
Page 1
, Question 6: Why might poverty confer added risk for psychological problems? What other risk factors
for psychological disorders does poverty influence?
Answer:
1. Minority children and families
2. as well as those with socioeconomic disadvantages
3. must cope with multiple forms of racism
4. prejudice
5. discrimination
6. oppression
7. and segregation
8. all of which significantly influence a child's adaption and development.
Question 7: In general, how do sex differences influence the prevalence of psychological disorders?
How does this association change as children age?
Answer: Differences could be from definitions, reporting biases, differences in the expression of the
disorder. Sex differences are neglibe in children under the age of 3 but increase with age. Externalizing
disorders, wide gap at age 4, converge by age 18. Internalizing disorders, same at age 5, wide gap at age 18.
Boys: neurodevelopmental disorders (reading, autism, adhd, conduct), with a peak age on onset in
adolescence. Externalizing disorders. Resilience in boys associated with households in which there is a male
role model, structure (rules), encouragement of emotional expressivenes. Girls: depression and eating
disorders. Internalizing disorders. Resilience in girls: households that combine risk taking and independence
with support from a female caregiver.
Question 8: Name several risk factors that compound risk for disability resulting from psychological
problems in racial/ethnic minority children.
Answer: Their access to mental health resources. Ethnic minorities often have lower socioeconomic status.
Cultural differences, misunderstanding behavior. Exclusion from society's benefits (marginalization) --
alienation, rejection of the norms of the larger society.
Question 9: Why is understanding the developmental appropriateness of a given behavior at the child's
current age important to determine whether it constitutes a psychological disorder?
Answer: Behavior of children looks different from adults and also from children of different ages.
Question 10: How can we prevent mental illness in children who are particularly vulnerable?
Answer:
Question 11: What role does parenting play in development of childhood disorders?
Answer: Enviornement. Stressors. Consistent parenting.
Question 12: How should mental illness be diagnosed in the absence of "objective" tests?
Answer:
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LEARNING REVIEW Questions with Correct Answers (Grade A+)
Question 1: How does the child's progress toward developmental milestones inform our assessment of
whether the child's behavior or thinking is normal or abnormal?
Answer: Many child and adolescent problems involve failure to show expected developmental progress.
Determining the problems requires familiarity with normal, as well as abnormal development. Not just how
much maladaptive stuff they do but also if they do the normal stuff Developmental tasks: conduct (how well
a person follows rules of society), academic achievement.
Question 2: What contributions did psychoanalytic theory make to contemporary conceptualizations of
child psychopathology?
Answer: Freud thought that roots of disorders were from early childhood. People with mental disorders
could be helped Anna discovered that children's symptoms more related to developmental stages than
adults. Melanie Klein: meaning of children's play, terms of unconscious fantasy.
Question 3: How do children with psychological disorders differ from those with normal development
(e.g., type of symptoms, degree or severity of symptoms, impairment)?
Answer: Early signs of mental health problems: -behavior problems -child difficulty controlling emotions
Good mental health: -Curious -Can sit and reflect -Experience love and affection -Get upset when
reasonable and then bring themselves back on their own without intense interference.
Question 4: Name several risk and protective factors for child psychopathology.
Answer: Risk: Minority and poverty, harsh, inconsistent parenting & elevated exposure to stressors
(Community violence, parental divorce. Parental mental illness, homelessness, racial prejudice). Protective:
Strengths of indiv, family, community Better learning environment, community safety. Close relationship to
caring parent. Authoritative parenting, warmth, structure, high expectations, socioeconomic advantages,
extended family. Adults outside the family who take an interest in promoting child's welfare. Social
organizations, effective schools.
Question 5: Define the construct of resilience. What does resilience look like in a child who has
experienced challenges or stressors?
Answer: Survive risky environments by using their strong self-confidence, coping skills, and abilities to
avoid risk situations. Not a universal or fixed attribute, varies according to stressor.
Page 1
, Question 6: Why might poverty confer added risk for psychological problems? What other risk factors
for psychological disorders does poverty influence?
Answer:
1. Minority children and families
2. as well as those with socioeconomic disadvantages
3. must cope with multiple forms of racism
4. prejudice
5. discrimination
6. oppression
7. and segregation
8. all of which significantly influence a child's adaption and development.
Question 7: In general, how do sex differences influence the prevalence of psychological disorders?
How does this association change as children age?
Answer: Differences could be from definitions, reporting biases, differences in the expression of the
disorder. Sex differences are neglibe in children under the age of 3 but increase with age. Externalizing
disorders, wide gap at age 4, converge by age 18. Internalizing disorders, same at age 5, wide gap at age 18.
Boys: neurodevelopmental disorders (reading, autism, adhd, conduct), with a peak age on onset in
adolescence. Externalizing disorders. Resilience in boys associated with households in which there is a male
role model, structure (rules), encouragement of emotional expressivenes. Girls: depression and eating
disorders. Internalizing disorders. Resilience in girls: households that combine risk taking and independence
with support from a female caregiver.
Question 8: Name several risk factors that compound risk for disability resulting from psychological
problems in racial/ethnic minority children.
Answer: Their access to mental health resources. Ethnic minorities often have lower socioeconomic status.
Cultural differences, misunderstanding behavior. Exclusion from society's benefits (marginalization) --
alienation, rejection of the norms of the larger society.
Question 9: Why is understanding the developmental appropriateness of a given behavior at the child's
current age important to determine whether it constitutes a psychological disorder?
Answer: Behavior of children looks different from adults and also from children of different ages.
Question 10: How can we prevent mental illness in children who are particularly vulnerable?
Answer:
Question 11: What role does parenting play in development of childhood disorders?
Answer: Enviornement. Stressors. Consistent parenting.
Question 12: How should mental illness be diagnosed in the absence of "objective" tests?
Answer:
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