PSYCH 229DE Introduction to Developmental Psychopathology & Causes of Childhood Disorders

Quiz 1

Psychopathology

The scientific study of mental disorders; theory, etiology, treatment

Developmental psychopathology

A multidisciplinary approach to understanding child development and the emergence of children’s mental health problems over time

Etiology

Possible causes

The DSM-5 indicated that a mental disorder has the following components:

(a) involves a significant disturbance in thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior caused by a dysfunction in the basic psychological, biological, or developmental processes involved in normal development;

(b) causes significant distress or difficulty with day-to-day functioning; and

(c) is not merely a culturally expected response to common stressors or losses or a reflection of political or religious beliefs that conflict with societal norms

The four D’s of psychopathology:

-Deviance

-Distress

-Dysfunction

-Dangerousness

Deviance is determined by:

-Statistical standards (infrequency)

-Moral or religious beliefs (deviations from religious doctrine)

-Noncompliance with societal customs (departure from normative behavior)

Infrequency

atypical; lower prevalence

When assessing typicality, one must consider:

-Age

-Home environment

-Culture

-Attention seeking due to needs not being met

-The individual (who)

-What context the behavior occurs in

-What purpose the behavior serves

Risk (vulnerability) is not ___ ___

sufficient cause

Social norms

Socially determined beliefs about what is expected/typical in a given context

Examples of social norms:

-Shaking hands

-Saying hello

-Not wearing pajamas to school/work

Culture

Values, knowledge, and practices that people derive from membership in social groups

Cultural relativism

All social norms depend on their cultural context; our lifestyle, cultural values, and worldview affect our behavior and rules for emotional expression

-Cultures vary in what they define as normal vs. abnormal

Cultural universality

Refers to the perspective that symptoms of mental disorders are the same in all cultures and societies

No act is ___ in and of itself

deviant

Deviance is a ___ process; it is not ___

social; inherent (to an individual)

Anosognosia

The inability to recognize one’s own mental confusion

Dysfunction

-Role dysfunction: comparing someone’s performance with the requirements of a role; comparing an individual’s performance with their potential

Developmental psychopathologists try to identify the causes of children’s disorders across three broad levels of analysis:

-Biological

-Psychological

-Social-cultural (sociocultural)

Biological analysis

Genes, brain structure & functioning, and physical health & development

Psychological analysis

Thoughts, feelings, and actions

Social-cultural (sociocultural) analysis

Family, friends, schools, neighborhoods, ethnicity, and cultural background

Probabilistic epigenesis

The way factors on each level interact to shape children’s development over time

How disorders are classified:

-Observational: What types of symptoms?

-Biological: Blood, genetic, viral tests

-Panel of experts

The DSM-5 is based on a ___ model

medical

In the DSM-5, disorders are grouped into ___ ___; you either meet ___ or you do not

discrete categories; criteria

Adaptive behavior

Allows children to develop social, emotional, and behavioral competence over times and meet the changing demands of their environment

Maladaptive behavior

Interferes with children’s social, emotional, and behavioral competence or does not meet the changing demands of the environment

Adaptive and maladaptive behaviors can only be understood in the context of the child’s ___ and ___

development, environment

Developmental psychopathology models & theories

-Biological

-Psychological

-Social

-Sociocultural

-Biopsychosocial/ecological systems model

Ecological systems model

Children’s environment can be viewed as a hierarchy of concentric systems with each smaller system nested inside the others like stacked cups

Developmental tasks

Challenges that depend largely on children’s age and developmental level

Developmental pathway

The course of trajectory of children’s development

Types of continuity in development

Homotypic & heterotypic

Homotypic continuity

Domains persist from childhood to adolescence or adulthood relatively unchanged (e.g. intellectual disabilities, ASD; problems with cognitive or social functioning, respectively)

Heterotypic continuity

Symptoms change over time, but the underlying pattern of behavior remains the same (e.g. hyperactivity in a 5-year-old vs. a 30-year-old)

The interaction between factors over time produces two phenomena:

Equifinality & multifinality

Equifinality

Occurs when children with different developmental histories show similar developmental outcomes

Multifinality

The tendency of children with similar early experiences to show different outcomes

Risk factors

Influences on development that interfere with the acquisition of children’s competencies or compromise children’s ability to adapt to their environments; can be biological, psychological, or sociocultural

Protective factors

Biological, psychological, and sociocultural influences that buffer the negative effects of risks on children’s development and promote adaptation

The salience of a risk factor depends on the child’s ___, ___, ___, and ___

age, gender, level of development, environmental context

Resilience

The tendency of some children to develop competence despite the presence of multiple risk factors

What does the biological model say about treatments?

Our biology is responsible for who we are, thus all treatments are biological

Genes

Made up of segments of DNA; organized into chromosomes

Histones

Can turn genes “on” and “off” by binding to them in certain ways

Neurotypical individuals have the same ___; differences in people’s appearance come from slight variations in these

genes

Alleles

Slight variations in genes (phenotypic variations)

No ___ direct ___

genes, behavior

Genes can lead to certain ___ changes in our bodies that predispose us to ___

structural & functional, behave in certain ways

Family study

Correlation between something among relatives vs. non-relatives

Shared genetics percentages between different relational levels

-Monozygotic twins: 100% of genes

-Dizygotic twins: 50% of genes

-Siblings: ~50% of genes

-Non-siblings

Relative risk

Odds of a diagnosis for a family member to a family member with the same diagnosis vs. to a child without the diagnosis

Diathesis-stress model (GxE)

There is some inherited risk (diathesis) that can increase odds of exhibiting a disorder if a person also experiences stressors

Principles of brain development

1. The brain consists of 100 billion neurons.

2. Neurons communicate using chemical messengers.

3. The brain is organized from the bottom up.

4. Higher-order regions may not mature until adulthood.

5. Experience can affect the brain.

Neuron

A nerve cell that is typically very narrow and long; relays information electrically, by controlling the positively and negatively charged particles that are allowed to enter the cell

Neurotransmitter

A chemical messenger that is released into the synapse when an impulse reaches the end of an axon; in the synapse, it can be detected by other neurons, causing them to change their electrical charge

Synapse

A small cleft (space) between two neurons

How neurons communicate:

1. A sensory neuron detects a stimulus and converts it to an electrical signal that travels along the end of the neuron to the terminal

2. The signal, at the axon terminal, releases neurotransmitters into the synapse

3. The neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the dendrite of the other neuron

Information travels within neurons ___, but it travels between neurons ___

electrically, chemically

Excitatory neurotransmitters

Increase the positive charge of neurons, making them more likely to become active (e.g., dopamine)

Inhibitory neurotransmitters

Increase the negative charge of neurons, making them less likely to become active (e.g., GABA)

Reuptake

Decreases the number of neurotransmitters in synapses

Brain stem

Largely responsible for basic metabolic functions (i.e., heart rate, respiration, arousal)

Consists of:

• Medulla

• Pons

• Midbrain

Cerebellum

Responsible for balance and coordinated motor activity

Basal ganglia

Helps control movement, filters incoming information from the senses and relay it to other brain regions, regulation of attention and emotions

Limbic system components

Amygdala & hippocampus

Amygdala

Aids in understanding and expression of emotions, especially negative feelings such as fear and rage; fear response (fight, flight, freeze)

Hippocampus

Emotional processing, especially the formation of emotion-laden memories

Cerebral cortex

The outermost shell of the brain, divided into four lobes:

• Occipital lobe

• Parietal lobe

• Temporal lobe

• Frontal lobe

Occipital lobe

Visual processing

Parietal lobe

Integrating visual, auditory, and tactile information

Temporal lobe

Hearing, language, expression and regulation of emotions

Frontal lobe

Language production, problem-solving, memory

Prefrontal cortex

Planning, organizing, prioritizing activities to meet long-term goals

Neurochemical/biological model treatments of disorders target:

Brain chemistry

Common treatments targeting brain chemistry

• Psychotropic medications

• Deep brain stimulation

• ECT

• Psychosurgery

Psychotropic medication

Prescription medication used to treat behavioral, cognitive, or mood problems

Learning theory

Behaviorism; children’s behavior is largely determined by environmental contingencies

According to learning theory, learning occurs in three ways:

1. Classical conditioning

2. Operant conditioning

3. Imitation or modeling

Operant conditioning

Children associate an action with a consequence in the environment; behaviors are modeled based on the actions of others

Reinforcement

Anything that increases the likelihood of behavior

Positive reinforcement

An individual is presented with a stimulus that increases the likelihood of behavior; something is added (e.g., a child given ice cream after eating vegetables at dinner)

Negative reinforcement

The withdrawal or avoidance of a stimulus increases the likelihood of behavior; something bad is removed (i.e., avoiding raising hand in class so you are not called on and feel distress)

Punishment

Decreases the probability of future behavior

Positive punishment

A stimulus presentation that decreases the likelihood of behavior (i.e., spanking a child for disobedience)

Negative punishment

Avoidance or removal of a stimulus that decreases the likelihood of behavior (i.e., a teacher removing a child from the classroom following disruption)

Classical conditioning

Automatic (involuntary) response paired with novel stimulus (i.e., dog salivates when it sees food; ring bell and present food, dog salivates; the dog will eventually salivate at the ringing of the bell alone)

Social learning theory

Learning through imitation or modeling is a primary mechanism of behavioral acquisition

Temperament

An infant’s characteristic pattern of actions and emotions in response to environmental stimuli; remains relatively stable over time and across situations

Attachment

The emotional bond between caregiver and child that serves to protect and reassure the child in times of danger or uncertainty

Attachment styles

• Secure

• Insecure

  • Anxious

  • Avoidant

  • Disorganized

Insecure attachment is particularly associated with ___

inconsistent caregiving

Parenting styles

• Authoritative

• Authoritarian

• Indulgent

• Uninvolved

How do biological theorists explain abnormal behavior?

An illness brought about by malfunctioning parts of the organism

Brain circuits

A network of particular brain structures that work together, triggering each other into action to produce a distinct behavioral, cognitive, or emotional reaction

Fear circuit

Interconnecting fiber pathways enables structures (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala) to trigger each other into action to produce our everyday fear reactions

Psychodynamic model

A person’s behavior, whether normal or abnormal, is determined largely by underlying psychological forces of which the individual is not consciously aware

Psychodynamic therapies/treatments

Therapists subtly guide therapy discussions so that the patients discover underlying problems for themselves; uses techniques including:

• Free association

• Therapist interpretation

• Catharsis

• Working through

Cognitive-behavioral model

Focuses on the behaviors people display and the thoughts they have; how behavior affects thinking and how thinking affects behavior