Essentials of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

Linda Wilmshurst, Alan S. Kaufman, Nadeen L. Kaufman

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781118840207
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

A concise guide to the fundamentals of child psychopathology, complete with the latest developments

Essentials of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Second Edition provides a concise, accessible overview of the major theories, assessment practices, and key issues. This updated Second Edition describes the significant changes in the way DSM™-5 conceptualizes disorders in children and adolescents, and includes a new chapter on child abuse, child maltreatment, and self-injurious behavior. Using practical case examples to illustrate key points, the book addresses specific disorders and problems prevalent among this age group—including anxiety, mood disorders, and traumatic stress. Each chapter features reader-friendly elements like Rapid Reference, Caution, and Don't Forget boxes that call out important information, facilitating easy look-up and quick navigation.

This invaluable resource fills the need for an overview of the most current issues and changes in the field, allowing readers to:

• Review the development, theories, and influences in child and adolescent psychopathology
• Understand neurodevelopmental disorders including intellectual and developmental disabilities, ADHD, and specific learning disabilities or disorders
• Compare and contrast the manifestations of internalized vs. externalized disorders
• Examine later-onset disorders and special topics including eating disorders, substance abuse, and trauma-related disorders

The book also includes appendices on ethical conduct, assessment instruments, and IDEA 2004, providing readers the guidance and tools that can help increase positive outcomes. Whether used as a secondary text or as a professional reference, Essentials of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Second Edition provides an authoritative briefing on this evolving area of practice.

Part I
The Foundations

The following three chapters provide the basic foundations for understanding child and adolescent psychopathology. In the Introduction, readers will discover how child and adolescent psychopathology evolved as a unique discipline and the growing pains that were evident in achieving the early milestones, historically. Through the use of case examples, readers will gain an increased appreciation of important developmental considerations that are required in order to make clinical decisions regarding where a child's behavior is best represented on the normal versus abnormal continuum based on important information available from developmental expectations and theoretical perspectives.

The second chapter provides important information regarding ethical issues and challenges that practitioners face in their work with young children and adolescents, whether this takes place in a clinical or research setting. Issues of confidentiality can be daunting as practitioners attempt to determine who is the legal guardian for children under 18 years of age (or the age of majority in the state where the clinician is practicing), especially in cases where information regarding the custodial parent may not be readily accessible. The chapter ends with an important discussion about common risks and protective factors that can influence the trajectory of child development.

Finally, in the third chapter, readers are introduced to issues in diagnosis, assessment, and treatment as they relate to different systems of classification (empirical versus categorical), and how the recently revised DSM-5 has attempted to address these issues. Different methods of clinical assessment will be discussed, as well as issues of obtaining parental consent and child assent for individual assessments.

Chapter 1
Introduction to Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

Development, Theories, and Influences

Recognition of clinical child psychology as a unique discipline has only emerged in the past 30 years, despite auspicious beginnings. The end of the 19th century ushered in an era of social reform that addressed the need to protect children's rights concerning health and education, to provide protection within the judicial system, and to free children from working within the adult workforce (Culbertson, 1991). In the wake of this movement, child labor laws and mandatory education became a reality. At the turn of the 20th century, Lightner Witmer established the first psychology clinic to treat children with learning disabilities, and by 1909 more than 450 cases had been seen at the clinic. However, Witmer fell out of favor with his colleagues, because of his refusal to adopt Terman's revision of the Stanford-Binet tests of intelligence and his reluctance to accept Freud's theories on behavior disorders.

William Healey, an English-born psychiatrist who shared America's enthusiasm for Freud's theories, opened the first child guidance clinic in Chicago in 1909. By 1933, 42 child guidance clinics were in operation at a wide variety of locations, including juvenile institutions, courts, hospitals, schools, and universities. As the popularity of the child guidance clinics grew, the emphasis shifted from delinquency to problems evident at home and at school, with a primary interest in parent–child difficulties.

The underlying philosophy of the time was that the source of children's problems could be found in parenting and the family (Horn, 1989, p. 27). In 1948, 54 child guidance clinics came together to form the American Association of Psychiatric Clinics for Children (AAPCC). According to Horn, this marked a shift from identification to training and treatment; a movement riddled with debate over standards, roles, and status among psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. For a summary of the timelines in historical perspective, refer to Rapid Reference 1.1.

Despite the popular rise of the child guidance clinics, the field of clinical child psychology encountered many roadblocks that delayed the establishment of child psychopathology as a unique discipline until only 30 years ago. One reason for the delay was the fact that theories of child development were firmly entrenched in the controversy over nature versus nurture.

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Rapid Reference 1.1

Early Milestones in the History of Child Psychology

1892	American Psychological Association founded; G. Stanley Hall is first president.
1896	L. Witmer founds first psychology clinic, at the University of Pennsylvania, for children with learning disabilities and academic problems.
1897	Witmer's clinic offers four-week summer course in child psychology.
1905	Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale for measuring mental abilities in children published in France.
1907	Witmer establishes a residential school for retarded children and founds the first clinical journal, The Psychological Clinic.
1908	H. Goddard establishes first clinical internship program at Vineland Training School (New Jersey).
1909	Beers, supported by psychologist W. James and psychiatrist A. Meyer, founds the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, later renamed the National Association of Mental Health (NAMH).
1909	W. Healey establishes the first child guidance center, the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute (Chicago), to treat and prevent mental illness in juvenile offenders; later named the Institute for Juvenile Research.
1909	G. Stanley Hall invites Sigmund Freud to lecture on psychoanalysis at Clark University.
1910	Goddard translates the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test for use with “feebleminded children” at the Vineland School.
1911	A. Gesell appointed director of Yale's Psychoeducational Clinic; renamed Clinic of Child Development.
1912	J. B. Watson publishes Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It.
1916	Terman's Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test is published.
1917	APA section of clinical psychology is founded.
1920	Watson and Raynor demonstrate that fear can be conditioned in a child called Albert.
1922	NAMH funds eight pilot child guidance clinics established in various cities.
1926	Piaget publishes The Language and Thought of the Child.
1928	Anna...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Series Preface
• Part I: The Foundations
• Part II: Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Part III: Internalizing Disorders
• Part IV: Disruptive Behavior Disorders
• Part V: Later-Onset Disorders
• Part VI: Special Topics in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology
• Appendix A: Codes of Ethical Conduct
• Appendix B: References for Assessment Instruments and Resources
• Appendix C: Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 04)
• References
• Index
• End User License Agreement