Developmental Psychopathology, Theory and Method

Dante Cicchetti, Dante Cicchetti

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781119125440
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The seminal reference for the latest research in developmental psychopathology

Developmental Psychopathology is a four-volume compendium of the most complete and current research on every aspect of the field. Volume One: Theory and Method focuses on the theoretical and empirical work that has contributed to dramatic advancements in understanding of child and adult development, including findings in the areas of genetics and neurobiology, as well as social and contextual factors. Now in its third edition, this comprehensive reference has been fully updated to reflect the current state of the field and its increasingly multilevel and interdisciplinary nature and the increasing importance of translational research. Contributions from expert researchers and clinicians provide insight into how multiple levels of analysis may influence individual differences, the continuity or discontinuity of patterns, and the pathways by which the same developmental outcomes may be achieved.

Advances in developmental psychopathology have burgeoned since the 2006 publication of the second edition ten years ago, and keeping up on the latest findings in multiple avenues of investigation can be burdensome to the busy professional and researcher from psychology and related fields. This reference solves the problem by collecting the best of the best, as edited by Dante Cicchetti, a recognized leader in the field, into one place, with a logical organization designed for easy reference.

• Get up to date on the latest research from the field
• Explore new models, emerging theory, and innovative approaches
• Learn new technical analysis and research design methods
• Understand the impact of life stage on mental health

The complexity of a field as diverse as developmental psychopathology deepens with each emerging theory and new area of study, as made obvious by the exciting findings coming out of institutions and clinics around the world. Developmental Psychopathology Volume One: Theory and Method brings these findings together into a cohesive, broad-reaching reference.

Chapter 1
Assessment of Psychopathology in Young Children

Margaret J. Briggs-Gowan, Leandra Godoy, Amy Heberle, and Alice S. Carter

1. INTRODUCTION
2. EARLY PROBLEMS MATTER
   1. Progress in Psychiatric Diagnosis in Young Children
3. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN YOUNG CHILD ASSESSMENT
   1. Reliance on Caregivers for Information
   2. Sensitivity to Contextual Influences, Including Caregiving Contexts
4. DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT
5. SELECTING AN ASSESSMENT APPROACH AND TOOL
   1. Types of Tools
   2. Understanding Psychometric Properties
   3. Reliability
   4. Validity
   5. Validity of Classification
   6. Normatization
   7. Cultural Validity and Cultural Norms
   8. Knowing What Problems Are Really Being Assessed
   9. Response Formats
   10. Summary
6. ASSESSMENT TOOLS
   1. Screening Methods
   2. Screening Methods Characteristics of Screening Tools
   3. Selected Screening Tools
   4. Comprehensive Dimensional Tools for Assessing Social-Emotional/Behavioral Problems
   5. Selected Dimensional Checklists
   6. Variation in Emphasis of the Domains That Are Assessed
   7. Diagnostic Approaches
   8. Selected Diagnostic Interviews
   9. Psychometric Properties of Diagnostic Interviews
   10. Observational Assessment
   11. Assessing Impairment
7. CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
8. REFERENCES

Introduction

The past 20 years have witnessed a sea change for young children's mental health. It is now recognized that early childhood (0–5 years) is a crucial period for the development of self-regulation, a critical set of competencies that have implications for adaptive functioning in school and through the life span. Early childhood is also recognized as a time when psychopathology may begin to emerge and disrupt young children's developmental progress. In addition, enormous progress has been made in demonstrating that, when psychiatric disorders are defined in a manner that is developmentally meaningful, even very young children suffer from psychiatric disorders that are valid, impairing, and clinically very similar to those experienced by older children (Egger & Angold, 2006; Egger et al., 2006). Indeed, recent research has indicated that psychiatric disorders are just as prevalent in early childhood as they are in school-age children (Egger & Angold, 2006). Moreover, when young children manifest psychopathology that is impairing, it is often persistent and predicts later difficulties once they become of school age. Equally important, there is increasing awareness that these problems can interfere with learning within early childhood and may set in motion a developmental cascade that likely predicts challenges to lifespan functioning in multiple domains. Research focused on specific disorders has driven discovery of neurobiologic substrates, which has further validated the relevance and reality of early life psychopathology (Luby, Belden, Pautsch, Si, & Spitznagel, 2009; Luby, Si, Belden, Tandon, & Spitznagel, 2009; Stalets & Luby, 2006). These advances in our understanding of young child psychopathology are paralleled by, and one might argue largely driven by, an explosion in reliable, valid, developmentally sensitive measures for assessing a full range of self-regulation, social-emotional development in young children. Specifically, over the past 15-plus years, a number of instruments have been developed to assess parent and other caregiver appraisals of social-emotional functioning utilizing both questionnaire and interview methods. There have also been advances in observational tools to assess clinically significant emotional and behavior problems. With greater acceptance and building on advances in measurement, we are poised to evaluate the benefits of a broad range of prevention and intervention efforts and see increasing discovery of biological and environmental influences on young children's mental health.

As the field presses forward to address the mental health needs of young children both efficiently and effectively, success will be optimized by a well-informed approach to assessment that (1) acknowledges contextual factors, including the caregiving environments at home and in other settings, such as child care and early education environments, caregiver influences on social-emotional functioning and assessment, recent changes in family structure or contextual stressors, and sociocultural factors; (2) is framed within the context of a child's functioning in other developmental domains, such as language, cognition, adaptive functioning, health, and sensory; (3) is tailored to the goals and purposes of the assessment and evaluation setting (e.g., pediatric clinic, day care center, mental health clinic, or private practice); (4) utilizes reliable, valid, developmentally sensitive tools; and (5) employs an approach to interpretation that views the whole child in relation to contextual and developmental factors and evaluates his or her capacities and participation in developmentally appropriate activities and settings (i.e., impairment).

A primary goal of this chapter is to help clinicians and researchers determine the most suitable measures to use from a wide array of parent and other caregiver report, observational, and direct assessment measures that are now available. Rather than trying to offer an exhaustive list of all existing measures of social-emotional functioning and psychopathology appropriate for young children, we highlight some of the most widely employed and promising tools and approaches, including those that reflect advances in screening, comprehensive dimensional parent- and other caregiver-report instruments, and diagnostic approaches to young child evaluation. These assessment tools can be categorized as follows: (1) parent and other caregiver report instruments that focus on general problem behaviors; (2) parent and other caregiver report instruments that focus on specific problem areas or disorders (e.g., anxiety, disruptive behavior); (3) parent and other caregiver report instruments designed to assess both problem behaviors and competencies; (4) comprehensive diagnostic interviews for parents of young children; and (5) observational tools and methods. Within the first three categories, measures can be further divided according to whether they are brief tools appropriate for screening or longer checklist tools or diagnostic interviews that provide more detailed information. Finally, we will close the chapter with a discussion of ongoing challenges, future directions, and opportunities in research on and clinical applications with assessment of young child psychopathology. Although many researchers and clinicians continue to express discomfort about pathologizing, or labeling, young children, our focus is on assessment tools that enhance the recognition and detection of early emerging psychopathology to address mental health needs in an effort to minimize adverse developmental cascades. Moreover, we argue optimistically that by labeling systematic behavioral patterns observed within young children (rather than labeling individual children) we create the potential to develop and disseminate guidance regarding appropriate contextual supports and specific behavioral interventions that are tailored to the needs of children with different behavioral profiles; these early prevention and targeted interventions can be designed to support family beliefs, values, and goals and children's developmental progress while minimizing child and family distress.

Early Problems Matter

There is now a consensus among child clinicians that children as young as 2 years of age can suffer from significant social-emotional and behavior problems, or psychopathology. Prevalence estimates of clinically significant problems in nonreferred samples have ranged considerably, from as low as 7% to as high as 26%, depending on whether problems are defined in terms of meeting criteria for psychiatric diagnosis or by exceeding a clinical cutoff on a checklist measure (Briggs-Gowan, Carter, Skuban, & Horwitz, 2001; Egger & Angold, 2006; Gleason et al., 2011; Karabekiroglu et al., 2013; Keenan et al., 1997; Lavigne, Lebailly, Hopkins, Gouze, & Binns, 2009; ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Preface to Developmental Psychopathology, Third Edition
• Contributors
• Chapter 1: Assessment of Psychopathology in Young Children
• Chapter 2: Developmental Issues in Assessment, Taxonomy, and Diagnosis of Psychopathology: Life Span and Multicultural Perspectives
• Chapter 3: Developmental Epidemiology
• Chapter 4: Using Natural Experiments to Test Environmental Mediation Hypotheses
• Chapter 5: Developmental Models and Mechanisms for Understanding the Effects of Early Experiences on Psychological Development
• Chapter 6: Emotional Security Theory and Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 7: Emotion and the Development of Psychopathology
• Chapter 8: Attachment and Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 9: Autonomy and Autonomy Disturbances in Self-Development and Psychopathology: Research on Motivation, Attachment, and Clinical Process
• Chapter 10: Roots of Typical Consciousness: Implications for Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 11: I-Self and Me-Self Processes Affecting Developmental Psychopathology and Mental Health
• Chapter 12: Peer Relations and Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 13: Family Systems from a Developmental Psychopathology Perspective
• Chapter 14: Adolescent/Young Adult Romantic Relationships and Psychopathology
• Chapter 15: What Can Dynamic Systems Models of Development Offer to the Study of Developmental Psychopathology?
• Chapter 16: A Survey of Dynamic Systems Methods for Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 17: Missing Data
• Chapter 18: Person-Oriented Approaches
• Chapter 19: Person-Specific Approaches to the Modeling of Intraindividual Variation in Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 20: Configural Frequency Analysis for Research on Developmental Processes
• Chapter 21: Moderation and Mediation in Interindividual Longitudinal Analysis
• Chapter 22: Latent Growth Modeling and Developmental Psychopathology
• Chapter 23: Integrative Data Analysis for Research in Developmental Psychopathology
• Author Index
• Subject Index
• End User License Agreement