Foundations of Developmental Psychopathology
from Part IV - Developmental Psychopathology and Longitudinal Methods
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 March 2020
During the course of the past four decades, developmental psychopathology has emerged as a new science that integrates various disciplines, the efforts of which had previously been distinct and separate. The distinctiveness and uniqueness of a developmental psychopathology approach lie in its focus on normal and abnormal, adaptive and maladaptive, developmental processes. A developmental analysis presupposes change and novelty, highlights the critical role of timing in the organization of behavior, underscores multiple determinants, and cautions against expecting invariant relations between causes and outcomes. A developmental analysis is essential for tracing the roots, etiology, and nature of maladaptation so that interventions may be timed and guided as well as being developmentally appropriate. Moreover, a developmental analysis proves useful for discovering the compensatory mechanisms – biological, psychological, and social-contextual – that may promote resilient functioning despite the experience of significant adversity. Inherent to a developmental psychopathology approach is a commitment to the importance of applying knowledge of normal development to the study of typical populations. Even prior to the emergence of a mental disorder, certain pathways signify adaptational failures in normal development that probabilistically forebode subsequent psychopathology. The approach suggested by a developmental psychopathology framework requires a comprehensive assessment of functioning including multidisciplinary, multidomain, multilevel, and multicontextual measurement strategies. Additionally, developmental psychopathology is a lifespan perspective, because it is only by examining a range of conditions from infancy through adulthood that developmental continuities and discontinuities can be elucidated fully.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.