Developmental Psychopathology
Hoorcollege 2 – DP fundamentals
Psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of
emotion, cognition, behavior.
Developmental psychopathology emphasizes that these maladaptive patterns
occur in the context of typical development and result in the current and
potential impairment of infants, children, and adolescents. In other words: the
problems arise as the child grows up.
Note: Recently, from Normal/Abnormal (often, negative connotations) to →
Typical/Atypical (less judgmental, more descriptive).
Psychopathology in the context of typical development
1. Dynamic appreciation of children’s strengths and weaknesses as they
experience salient, age-related challenges
2. Individual, familial, ethnic, cultural, societal beliefs about desirable vs
undesirable outcomes (=definitions of normality)
Defining typical/normal vs atypical/abnormal
- Statistical deviance: how differently the person feels/thinks/acts compared
to others
o Issues: where is the cutoff? Which side of the spectrum is
concerning?
- Sociocultural norms: how the person is expected to think/feel/act
o Issues: group values are not universal truths
- Mental health definitions: what experts consider as mental health/illness
o Issues: experts’ subjectivity and values steer the definition
How does it emerge? Disorders in the context of development
, 1. Delay or dysfunction
o Delay: kids have not developed a skill that they should have by this
age
o Dysfunction: not putting skills to use (its not about not having the
skill, but not using the skill. Example: aggressive behavior, its not
that people don’t know how to behave well, its about they don’t
want to do it)
2. Typical vs atypical development as a process: adjustment and
maladjustment are points along a lifelong map
Pathways
- Multifinality: similar starting points lead to different outcomes
- Equifinality: different starting points lead to similar outcomes
Continuity and stability
Continuity: the average levels across the population of a phenomenon, how does
internalizing problems change over time for all adolescents? Do the problems
become less, more or the same?
Stability: is about rank ordering. When I am the most anxious person when I am
12, am I still the most anxious person when I am 16, in the same group?
,Types of continuity (that also underlie stability)
- Homotypic continuity: stable expression of symptoms the symptoms
stay the same regardless of age.
- Heterotypic continuity: symptom expression change with development
the symptoms change for the same diagnosis.
- Cumulative continuity: environment that perpetuates maladaptive style
the symptoms of a person in a specific environment are being reinforced.
Side notes
1. Change is possible at many points
2. Change is constrained/enabled by previous adaptations
3. Transitions & turning points shut down/create opportunities
4. Developmental coherence
, Risk and resilience factors
Risk factors
- Nonspecific: e.g., maternal psychopathology, poverty
- Specific: e.g., distorted body image → body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia
nervosa
- Differential impact: high risk levels may override resilience factors
- Timing of risk may dampen/strengthen its impact! For example age, some
experiences are more impactful when a kid is 6 years old compared to 20
years old.
Resilience factors
- Promotive: for positive youth development, e.g. high self-esteem boek:
promotive effects are the characteristics and experiences that support
positive development and adaptation for children and adolescents
regardless of risk level
- Protective: from risk, e.g. social support boek: protective effects support
positive development for children and adolescents in the presence of risk.
Patterns and pathways of protective factors
1. Reducing impact of risk
2. Reducing the negative chain of reactions following risk (stop the negative
chain of negative reactions after exposure to a negative experience)
3. Establishing and maintaining self-esteem and self-efficacy (having a good
sense of who you are and how you are able to cope with things in your life)
4. Opening up opportunities for growth (being optimistic, having high self-
esteem, having good and supportive relationships, received supporting
parenting can help people flourish)
Resilience is dynamic and extends beyond the child/family system level
Hoorcollege 2 – DP fundamentals
Psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of
emotion, cognition, behavior.
Developmental psychopathology emphasizes that these maladaptive patterns
occur in the context of typical development and result in the current and
potential impairment of infants, children, and adolescents. In other words: the
problems arise as the child grows up.
Note: Recently, from Normal/Abnormal (often, negative connotations) to →
Typical/Atypical (less judgmental, more descriptive).
Psychopathology in the context of typical development
1. Dynamic appreciation of children’s strengths and weaknesses as they
experience salient, age-related challenges
2. Individual, familial, ethnic, cultural, societal beliefs about desirable vs
undesirable outcomes (=definitions of normality)
Defining typical/normal vs atypical/abnormal
- Statistical deviance: how differently the person feels/thinks/acts compared
to others
o Issues: where is the cutoff? Which side of the spectrum is
concerning?
- Sociocultural norms: how the person is expected to think/feel/act
o Issues: group values are not universal truths
- Mental health definitions: what experts consider as mental health/illness
o Issues: experts’ subjectivity and values steer the definition
How does it emerge? Disorders in the context of development
, 1. Delay or dysfunction
o Delay: kids have not developed a skill that they should have by this
age
o Dysfunction: not putting skills to use (its not about not having the
skill, but not using the skill. Example: aggressive behavior, its not
that people don’t know how to behave well, its about they don’t
want to do it)
2. Typical vs atypical development as a process: adjustment and
maladjustment are points along a lifelong map
Pathways
- Multifinality: similar starting points lead to different outcomes
- Equifinality: different starting points lead to similar outcomes
Continuity and stability
Continuity: the average levels across the population of a phenomenon, how does
internalizing problems change over time for all adolescents? Do the problems
become less, more or the same?
Stability: is about rank ordering. When I am the most anxious person when I am
12, am I still the most anxious person when I am 16, in the same group?
,Types of continuity (that also underlie stability)
- Homotypic continuity: stable expression of symptoms the symptoms
stay the same regardless of age.
- Heterotypic continuity: symptom expression change with development
the symptoms change for the same diagnosis.
- Cumulative continuity: environment that perpetuates maladaptive style
the symptoms of a person in a specific environment are being reinforced.
Side notes
1. Change is possible at many points
2. Change is constrained/enabled by previous adaptations
3. Transitions & turning points shut down/create opportunities
4. Developmental coherence
, Risk and resilience factors
Risk factors
- Nonspecific: e.g., maternal psychopathology, poverty
- Specific: e.g., distorted body image → body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia
nervosa
- Differential impact: high risk levels may override resilience factors
- Timing of risk may dampen/strengthen its impact! For example age, some
experiences are more impactful when a kid is 6 years old compared to 20
years old.
Resilience factors
- Promotive: for positive youth development, e.g. high self-esteem boek:
promotive effects are the characteristics and experiences that support
positive development and adaptation for children and adolescents
regardless of risk level
- Protective: from risk, e.g. social support boek: protective effects support
positive development for children and adolescents in the presence of risk.
Patterns and pathways of protective factors
1. Reducing impact of risk
2. Reducing the negative chain of reactions following risk (stop the negative
chain of negative reactions after exposure to a negative experience)
3. Establishing and maintaining self-esteem and self-efficacy (having a good
sense of who you are and how you are able to cope with things in your life)
4. Opening up opportunities for growth (being optimistic, having high self-
esteem, having good and supportive relationships, received supporting
parenting can help people flourish)
Resilience is dynamic and extends beyond the child/family system level
