1
Developmental Psychopathology
Introduction
Age-related issues of development:
Infancy
o Major issue: formation of an effective attachment
o Additional issues:
Basis state and arousal regulation
Development of reciprocity
Dyadic regulation of emotion
Toddler period
o Major issue: guided self-regulation
o Additional issues:
Increased autonomy
Increased awareness of self and others
awareness of standards for behaviour
self-conscious emotions
Preschool period
o Major issue: self-regulation
o Additional issues:
Self-reliance with support (agency)
Self-management
Expanding social world
Internalization of rules and values
School years
o Major issue: competence
o Additional issues:
Personal efficacy
Self-integration
Competence with peers
Competence in school
Adolescence
o Major issue: individuation
o Additional issues:
Autonomy with connectedness
Identity
Peer network competence
Coordinating school, work, and social life
Transition to adulthood
o Major issue: emancipation
o Additional issues:
Launching a life course
Financial responsibility
Adult social competence
Coordinating work, training, career, and life
Common descriptions of normality and psychopathology often focus on 3 things:
1. Statistical deviance: the relative infrequency of certain emotions, cognitions, and/or
behaviours
a. Children of a certain age above high number cutoff or below the low number cutoff
would meet the criterion for disorder.
, 2
2. Sociocultural norms: the beliefs and expectations of certain groups of people about what
kinds of emotions, cognitions, and/or behaviours are undesirable or unacceptable.
a. Children who fail to conform to age-related, gender-specific, or culture-relevant
expectations might be viewed as challenging, struggling, or disordered.
3. Mental health definitions: theoretical or clinically based notions of distress and dysfunction
a. Children who have a negative quality of life, who function poorly, or who exhibit
certain kinds of symptoms might have a disorder.
A key value judgement involves distinctions between adaptation and maladaptation and personal or
group standards of adequate/average adaptation or optimal adaptation:
Adequate adaptation: has to do with what is considered okay, acceptable, or good enough.
Optimal adaptation: has to do with what is excellent, superior, or the best of what is possible.
Psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of emotion, cognition,
and behaviour.
Developmental psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of
emotion, cognition, and behaviour that occur within the context of typical development and result in
current and potential impairments in infants, children, and adolescents.
The muti-part task of estimating rates of disorders in infancy, childhood, and adolescence includes:
1. Identifying children with clinically significant distress and dysfunction, whether or not they are
in treatment (and most of them are not)
2. Calculating levels of general categories of disorders (anxiety disorders or neurodevelopmental
disorders) and within-category type of disorder (generalized anxiety, separation anxiety
disorder, phobia) and their associated impairments
3. Tracking changing trends in the identification and diagnosis of specific disorders, such as
autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or depression.
Developmental epidemiology: frequencies and patterns of distributions of disorders in infants,
children, and adolescents.
Prevalence: all current cases of a type (or types) of disorder, proportion of a population with a
disorder
Incidence: new cases of a type (or types) of disorder in a given time period, the rate at which new
cases arise
Barriers to care: factors that impede access to mental health services, including structural barriers,
individual barriers, and sociocultural barriers such as the stigma of psychopathology or mental illness.
Structural barriers: include limited or poorly-conceived mental health policies, lack of provider
availability, long waiting lists, lack of service coordination, inconveniently located services,
transportation difficulties, and the inability to pay and/or inadequate insurance coverage.
Individual barriers: include the inability to acknowledge a disorder, denial of problem severity, and
beliefs that difficulties will resolve over time or will improve without formal treatment.
Barriers related to perceptions about mental health services: involve a lack of trust in the system,
previous negative experiences, and the stigma related to seeking help.
Stigmatization: negative attitudes (such as blaming or overconcern with dangerousness), emotions
(such as shame, fear, or pity), and behaviours (such as ridicule or isolation) related to
psychopathology and mental illness.
, 3
Models of child development, psychopathology and treatment
Dimensional models of psychopathology: models that emphasize the ways in which typical
feelings, thoughts, and behaviours gradually become more serious problems, which then may intensify
and become clinically diagnosable disorders. They are also referred to as continuous or quantitative.
Categorical models of psychopathology: Models that emphasize discrete and qualitative
differences in individual patterns of emotion, cognition, and behaviour. There are clear distinctions
between what is normal and what is not. They are sometimes referred to as discontinuous or
qualitative.
Het verschil tussen deze twee gaat om de manier waarop psychische aandoeningen
worden begrepen en gediagnosticeerd. Dimensionale modellen bieden een meer flexibele en
contextuele kijk op psychopathologie, terwijl categoriale modellen zich richten op duidelijk
omschreven diagnostische categorieën.
Physiological models: models of psychopathology that emphasize biological processes, such as
genes and neurological systems, as being at the core of human experience. Physiological models
explain the development of psychopathology, its course, and its treatment in terms of biological
factors.
Connectome: the system of neural pathways, often represented as a map of the brain’s neural
connections.
Onderzoek naar het connectoom helpt ons de complexiteit van de hersenen en de
ontwikkeling van neurale verbindingen beter te begrijpen, wat op zijn beurt kan bijdragen aan
inzichten in hoe de hersenen functioneren en zich ontwikkelen.
Sensitive (or critical) periods: spans of time when environments have especially powerful and
enduring impacts.
Sensitive (or critical) periods zijn afhankelijk van bepaalde domeinen of componenten. Er
wordt verwacht dat er verschillen worden waargenomen tussen typisch en atypisch
ontwikkelende kinderen, maar er is ook sprake van diversiteit binnen deze groepen.
Neuroplasticity: the ability of the brain to flexibly respond to physiological and environmental
challenges and insults.
neuroplasticity vermindert naar
mate je ouder wordt
kinderen hebben meer
neuroplasticity dan ouderen.
, 4
Genotype: the genetic makeup of an individual
Phenotype: the observable characteristics of an individual
Behaviour genetics: the study of the joint effects of genes and environments
Molecular genetics: the study of how differences in the structure or expression of DNA molecules
results in variation.
Genome-wide association studies: a research method that involves rapidly scanning markers
across the genome of many people to find genetic variations associated with a particular phenotype
(such as a disease or disorder).
Heritability: the proportion of phenotypic differences among individuals that can be attributed to
genetic differences in a particular population.
Gene-by-environment-by-time effects: the dynamic interplay among genes, the environment, and
time (sensitive periods) leading to observable characteristics.
Gene-by-environment-by-time interactions: the interactive effect between genetic, environmental,
and time (or developmental) factors including the effects of early adversity on genetic expression.
Verschil tussen de twee:
Gene-by-environment effects: Dit verwijst meestal naar de individuele invloed van genen en
de omgeving op een eigenschap. Met andere woorden, het meet hoeveel impact genen en de
omgeving afzonderlijk hebben op een bepaalde eigenschap. Het kan bijvoorbeeld aangeven
welk deel van de variatie in een eigenschap wordt verklaard door genetische factoren en welk
deel door de omgeving.
Gene-by-environment interactions: Dit benadrukt de samenwerking tussen genen en de
omgeving, waarbij het effect van genen op een eigenschap verandert afhankelijk van de
omgevingsomstandigheden. Hierbij wordt gekeken naar hoe genetische aanleg en
omgevingsfactoren elkaar beïnvloeden en samenwerken om een bepaalde uitkomst te
bepalen. Het benadrukt dat genetische effecten kunnen variëren op basis van de omgeving.
Developmental Psychopathology
Introduction
Age-related issues of development:
Infancy
o Major issue: formation of an effective attachment
o Additional issues:
Basis state and arousal regulation
Development of reciprocity
Dyadic regulation of emotion
Toddler period
o Major issue: guided self-regulation
o Additional issues:
Increased autonomy
Increased awareness of self and others
awareness of standards for behaviour
self-conscious emotions
Preschool period
o Major issue: self-regulation
o Additional issues:
Self-reliance with support (agency)
Self-management
Expanding social world
Internalization of rules and values
School years
o Major issue: competence
o Additional issues:
Personal efficacy
Self-integration
Competence with peers
Competence in school
Adolescence
o Major issue: individuation
o Additional issues:
Autonomy with connectedness
Identity
Peer network competence
Coordinating school, work, and social life
Transition to adulthood
o Major issue: emancipation
o Additional issues:
Launching a life course
Financial responsibility
Adult social competence
Coordinating work, training, career, and life
Common descriptions of normality and psychopathology often focus on 3 things:
1. Statistical deviance: the relative infrequency of certain emotions, cognitions, and/or
behaviours
a. Children of a certain age above high number cutoff or below the low number cutoff
would meet the criterion for disorder.
, 2
2. Sociocultural norms: the beliefs and expectations of certain groups of people about what
kinds of emotions, cognitions, and/or behaviours are undesirable or unacceptable.
a. Children who fail to conform to age-related, gender-specific, or culture-relevant
expectations might be viewed as challenging, struggling, or disordered.
3. Mental health definitions: theoretical or clinically based notions of distress and dysfunction
a. Children who have a negative quality of life, who function poorly, or who exhibit
certain kinds of symptoms might have a disorder.
A key value judgement involves distinctions between adaptation and maladaptation and personal or
group standards of adequate/average adaptation or optimal adaptation:
Adequate adaptation: has to do with what is considered okay, acceptable, or good enough.
Optimal adaptation: has to do with what is excellent, superior, or the best of what is possible.
Psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of emotion, cognition,
and behaviour.
Developmental psychopathology: intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of
emotion, cognition, and behaviour that occur within the context of typical development and result in
current and potential impairments in infants, children, and adolescents.
The muti-part task of estimating rates of disorders in infancy, childhood, and adolescence includes:
1. Identifying children with clinically significant distress and dysfunction, whether or not they are
in treatment (and most of them are not)
2. Calculating levels of general categories of disorders (anxiety disorders or neurodevelopmental
disorders) and within-category type of disorder (generalized anxiety, separation anxiety
disorder, phobia) and their associated impairments
3. Tracking changing trends in the identification and diagnosis of specific disorders, such as
autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or depression.
Developmental epidemiology: frequencies and patterns of distributions of disorders in infants,
children, and adolescents.
Prevalence: all current cases of a type (or types) of disorder, proportion of a population with a
disorder
Incidence: new cases of a type (or types) of disorder in a given time period, the rate at which new
cases arise
Barriers to care: factors that impede access to mental health services, including structural barriers,
individual barriers, and sociocultural barriers such as the stigma of psychopathology or mental illness.
Structural barriers: include limited or poorly-conceived mental health policies, lack of provider
availability, long waiting lists, lack of service coordination, inconveniently located services,
transportation difficulties, and the inability to pay and/or inadequate insurance coverage.
Individual barriers: include the inability to acknowledge a disorder, denial of problem severity, and
beliefs that difficulties will resolve over time or will improve without formal treatment.
Barriers related to perceptions about mental health services: involve a lack of trust in the system,
previous negative experiences, and the stigma related to seeking help.
Stigmatization: negative attitudes (such as blaming or overconcern with dangerousness), emotions
(such as shame, fear, or pity), and behaviours (such as ridicule or isolation) related to
psychopathology and mental illness.
, 3
Models of child development, psychopathology and treatment
Dimensional models of psychopathology: models that emphasize the ways in which typical
feelings, thoughts, and behaviours gradually become more serious problems, which then may intensify
and become clinically diagnosable disorders. They are also referred to as continuous or quantitative.
Categorical models of psychopathology: Models that emphasize discrete and qualitative
differences in individual patterns of emotion, cognition, and behaviour. There are clear distinctions
between what is normal and what is not. They are sometimes referred to as discontinuous or
qualitative.
Het verschil tussen deze twee gaat om de manier waarop psychische aandoeningen
worden begrepen en gediagnosticeerd. Dimensionale modellen bieden een meer flexibele en
contextuele kijk op psychopathologie, terwijl categoriale modellen zich richten op duidelijk
omschreven diagnostische categorieën.
Physiological models: models of psychopathology that emphasize biological processes, such as
genes and neurological systems, as being at the core of human experience. Physiological models
explain the development of psychopathology, its course, and its treatment in terms of biological
factors.
Connectome: the system of neural pathways, often represented as a map of the brain’s neural
connections.
Onderzoek naar het connectoom helpt ons de complexiteit van de hersenen en de
ontwikkeling van neurale verbindingen beter te begrijpen, wat op zijn beurt kan bijdragen aan
inzichten in hoe de hersenen functioneren en zich ontwikkelen.
Sensitive (or critical) periods: spans of time when environments have especially powerful and
enduring impacts.
Sensitive (or critical) periods zijn afhankelijk van bepaalde domeinen of componenten. Er
wordt verwacht dat er verschillen worden waargenomen tussen typisch en atypisch
ontwikkelende kinderen, maar er is ook sprake van diversiteit binnen deze groepen.
Neuroplasticity: the ability of the brain to flexibly respond to physiological and environmental
challenges and insults.
neuroplasticity vermindert naar
mate je ouder wordt
kinderen hebben meer
neuroplasticity dan ouderen.
, 4
Genotype: the genetic makeup of an individual
Phenotype: the observable characteristics of an individual
Behaviour genetics: the study of the joint effects of genes and environments
Molecular genetics: the study of how differences in the structure or expression of DNA molecules
results in variation.
Genome-wide association studies: a research method that involves rapidly scanning markers
across the genome of many people to find genetic variations associated with a particular phenotype
(such as a disease or disorder).
Heritability: the proportion of phenotypic differences among individuals that can be attributed to
genetic differences in a particular population.
Gene-by-environment-by-time effects: the dynamic interplay among genes, the environment, and
time (sensitive periods) leading to observable characteristics.
Gene-by-environment-by-time interactions: the interactive effect between genetic, environmental,
and time (or developmental) factors including the effects of early adversity on genetic expression.
Verschil tussen de twee:
Gene-by-environment effects: Dit verwijst meestal naar de individuele invloed van genen en
de omgeving op een eigenschap. Met andere woorden, het meet hoeveel impact genen en de
omgeving afzonderlijk hebben op een bepaalde eigenschap. Het kan bijvoorbeeld aangeven
welk deel van de variatie in een eigenschap wordt verklaard door genetische factoren en welk
deel door de omgeving.
Gene-by-environment interactions: Dit benadrukt de samenwerking tussen genen en de
omgeving, waarbij het effect van genen op een eigenschap verandert afhankelijk van de
omgevingsomstandigheden. Hierbij wordt gekeken naar hoe genetische aanleg en
omgevingsfactoren elkaar beïnvloeden en samenwerken om een bepaalde uitkomst te
bepalen. Het benadrukt dat genetische effecten kunnen variëren op basis van de omgeving.
