PSYC 412 Developmental Psychopathology
Overview: What is Abnormal Child Behavior
Abnormal Behavior: Yes or No?
Abnormal Behavior/Psychological Disorder: Pattern of symptoms associated
with:
•Distress
•Disability
•Increased risk for further suffering or harm
Typical Behavior as a Benchmark
“Disability” and “risk” can be defined by adaptational failure:
•Failure to reach developmental milestones
•Lack of progress along adaptive developmental trajectories
Developmental psychopathology framework
•Stresses importance of developmental processes and tasks
•To understand maladaptive behavior, one must view it in relation to what
is considered normative
The Scope of the Problem
Broad prevalence
•1/8 children has a significant mental health problem
•1/10 meet criteria for diagnosis
Inadequate services
•Less than 10% receive services
•Effectiveness of many common services unknown
Who Ends Up With Problems? (Introduction to Epidemiology)
Gender (social and biological)
•Males show higher rates of disorders in childhood
oADHD, early onset conduct problems
•Females show higher rates of disorders in adolescence
oDepression, eating disorders
•Differences in form
oMales show higher levels of externalizing problems
oFemales show higher levels of internalizing problems
Poverty and SES disadvantage
•Poverty linked with higher rates of many disorders
Culture
•Impact varies by disorder
oLess cultural impact on more neurobiological based disorders
Ethnicity and Race
•Effects generally better accounted for by SES and culture
The General Diathesis-Stress Model
2
[Type text]
Diathesis
•Underlying vulnerability or tendency toward disorder
Stress
•Situation or challenge that calls on resources
•Typically thought of as external negative events
Under stress, diathesis increases likelihood of disorder
Strength of the Diathesis-Stress Model
Organizes thinking about nature vs. nurture
•NOT vs.
•Almost no disorders are caused by just genes
•Almost no disorders are caused by just stress
•Brain changes (neural plasticity) in response to environment
Simple foundation for complex theories
•Interaction makes disorder more probable
•Could have multiple interacting diatheses and stressors
oMultifinality: Various outcomes may stem from similar
beginnings.
oEquifinality: Similar outcomes stem from different early
experiences and developmental pathways.
RESEARCH METHODS
What is Science?
Science: A systematic method for investigating questions
Nosology in Developmental Psychopathology
Nosology: Classification of disease
•Organization of behavioral and emotional dysfunction into groupings.
Categorical Approach
Major nosological framework in developmental psychopathology:
•Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5
oCategorical system (disorders are viewed to be discrete categories)
oProfessional consensus
oMedical model (discrete disorders with separate causes)
Categorical measurement
•Advantages:
oSynthesis of information
oAids communication
•Disadvantages
oChildren often don’t fit into categories
- Comorbidity
- Impaired but does not meet criteria
PSYC 412 Developmental Psychopathology
- Loss of information
•Current categories proving inadequate for genetic and neuroscience
research
Categorical vs. Dimensional Systems
Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)
•Rather than using diagnostic categories, move towards assessing key
dimensions
oNegative affect
oAnger regulation
•Dimensional measurement
oIndependent traits or dimensions of behavior exist
oPeople are higher or lower on those dimensions
•Advantages
oAllows us to retain valuable information
oProvides a measure of severity
•Disadvantages
oWhich dimensions? Becomes very complicated very quickly
Dimensional vs. Categorical Classification
Research is ongoing to determine which system better maps onto the presentation
of different problems
•Categorical: Someone who has that disorder is fundamentally different
than someone who does not
•Dimensional: Present in everyone to varying degrees
How Will You Measure This Construct?
Rating scales and interviews
•Interviews are longer and administered to the person
•Rating scales are briefer and are (typically) completed by the person
Properties of Good Measures
Reliability
•Consistency
Validity
•“It” vs. something else
•Are we measuring what we think we are measuring?
Reliability is a necessary condition for validity
•However, you can have a reliable measure that is not valid
Reliability
Inter-Rater Reliability: Agreement between two people judging whether
something is present or occurring.
Test-Retest Reliability: Get same answer on different measurement occasions