The future of psychotherapy with children: Developmental psychotherapy.

Discusses the concept of developmental psychotherapy for children as a way of integrating information about human development, basic biological processes, and psychopathology with knowledge gained from studies of therapeutic change. In developmental psychotherapy, rather than trying to provide a permanent cure, the therapist tries using a variety of methods to help the child regain a footing on a developmental pathway more likely to lead to adequate adaptation in subsequent periods of life. Research in this field should concentrate on continuing refinement of models for developmental pathways leading to specific outcomes in a number of domains, particularly those involving externalizing disorders and substance abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence.

Developmental psychopathology offers an integrative framework for conceptualizing the course of development during adolescence, with particular relevance for understanding continuity and the emergence of psychopathology during this and subsequent developmental periods. In this article, the utility of a developmental psychopathology perspective for informing the design of research, prevention, and intervention is highlighted. Interdisciplinary, organizational models of development, emphasizing the dynamic relations between the developing individual and internal and external contexts, are discussed. Examination of boundaries between abnormal and normal development during adolescence offers important vantage points for articulating diversity in the developmental course during this period. Conceptualizing divergence and convergence in developmental pathways, continuity and discontinuity in development, and the transactions of risk and protective processes leading to maladaptation, psychopathology, and resilience are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remembering, forgetting, and the effects of trauma on memory: a developmental psychopathology perspective

A developmental psychopathology framework, with its emphasis on an interdisciplinary perspective, the interplay between work conducted with normal and atypical populations, and its focus on investigating functioning in multiple domains of development concurrently, possesses significant potential for advancing work on memory and trauma. A brief historical overview of memory and trauma is provided. Significant issues are highlighted that must be confronted in order to advance the understanding of the effects of trauma on memory and the utility of a developmental psychopathology perspective for informing research efforts is examined. The implications of a developmental psychopathology perspective for guiding research, clinical, and social policy initiatives of relevance to trauma and memory are discussed.     

Donald R. Lynam: Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology.

Announces Donald R. Lynam as a recipient of the Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology for 2002. A biographical statement is included, along with major works and contributions for the field. Lynam received this award for contributions to psychopathology research. His contributions span adult psychopathology, personality, clinical child psychology, sociology, developmental psychology, and criminology. His research interests include fledgling psychopathology, the contribution of individual differences to a variety of negative outcomes, and the use of the Five Factor Model of personality to understand psychopathy and other personality disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensional Models of Psychopathology: Research Agenda and Clinical Utility.

This commentary emphasizes the implications for a mental health research agenda that stem from the papers in this special section on dimensional models of psychopathology. These include the need to extend dimensional models to a wider range of psychopathology; the relationship of the dimensions described in these papers, largely based on symptom and self-report measures, to findings from current research in genetics, neuroimaging, and other domains of neuroscience; the need for new scales that can assess the entire range of relevant dimensions with modern psychometric techniques; and ways to employ these dimensions in applied clinical situations. It is concluded that hierarchical dimensional models offer powerful ways of organizing our thinking about psychopathology and will serve to guide many promising avenues of future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environment, biology, and culture: Implications for adolescent development.

This special issue, "Development, Transitions, and Adjustment in Adolescence," examines the roles of socialization, biology, and culture as they bear on adaptive and maladaptive developmental outcomes. Problems of adolescence that are addressed include, but are not restricted to, antisocial behavior, depressive symptoms, substance abuse, low achievement, and eating problems. Factors implicated in successful adaptation, as well as psychopathology, are considered, with an emphasis on both risk and protection. The investigations and commentaries highlight conceptual and methodological progress in understanding variations in patterns of adjustment as adolescents move toward assumption of adult roles. Limitations in the current knowledge base also are indicated, which may serve to inform future theoretical and empirical work on adolescent development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing factor structures of adolescent psychopathology.

Research on the structure of adolescent psychopathology can provide information on broad factors that underlie different forms of maladjustment in youths. Multiple studies from the literature on adult populations suggest that 2 factors, Internalizing and Externalizing, meaningfully comprise the factor structure of adult psychopathology (e.g., Krueger, 1999) and presumably represent broad vulnerability for co-occurring disorders. Though this research was partially inspired by early work with children and adolescents (e.g., Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1984), the role of substance use in these models of youth psychopathology has not been fully explored. Toward this goal, we recruited 223 youths (10–17 years of age, M = 14.2) from mental health agencies and the community. We found evidence for a 3-factor model of youth psychopathology, including Internalizing (depression, generalized anxiety), Externalizing (conduct disorder, attention deficit, oppositional defiant disorder), and Substance Use (alcohol and cannabis). The 3-factor model showed the best fit to the data relative to other factor models tested, including across subsamples of adolescents who differed on level of psychopathology (treatment vs. community samples). Implications for the structure of adolescent psychopathology, including important developmental considerations, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Still looking for Poppa.

In 1992, V. Phares published an article titled "Where's Poppa?: The Relative Lack of Attention to the Role of Fathers in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology" (see record 1992-35063-001). Since that time, there have been modest gains in the research literature on clinical child issues, but there remains a wide gap between the inclusion of mothers and fathers in clinical child and family research. To provide an update of this issue for the field of developmental psychopathology, the authors of this comment conducted an updated review and analysis of the research on fathers and developmental psychopathology. These current data were compared with the data from the Phares and Compas (1992) study. It was found that there continues to be a dearth of research on fathers and developmental psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition edited by Eric J. Mash and Russell A. Barkley (see record 2006-05090-000). This is an impressive compilation of chapters by distinguished authors in their respective fields, covering the major domains related to common childhood psychopathology, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, fear and anxiety, depression, mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, physical abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, substance use, and eating disorders. This landmark book, now in its third edition, provides the current state of knowledge about treatment intervention within these domains. This pioneering book continues to represent a major (and highly successful) undertaking to synthesize the wide literature base of treatment for common childhood disorders. Its ability to parsimoniously convey extensive information in a manner that is easily accessible to readers facilitates the advancement of treatment for childhood psychopathology by transferring treatment knowledge from the research laboratory to the clinical office. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament as a Unifying Basis for Personality and Psychopathology.

Personality and psychopathology long have been viewed as related domains, but the precise nature of their relations remains unclear. Through most of the 20th century, they were studied as separate fields; within psychopathology, clinical syndromes were separated from personality disorders in 1980. This division led to the revelation of substantial overlap among disorders both within and across axes and to the joint study of normal and abnormal personality. The author reviews these literatures and proposes an integrative framework to explain personality-psychopathology relations: Three broad, innate temperament dimensions--negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and disinhibition--differentiate through both biologically and environmentally based developmental processes into a hierarchical personality trait structure and, at their extremes, are risk factors (diatheses) for psychopathology, especially given adverse life experiences (stress). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The abnormality of normal comparison groups: the identification of psychosis proneness and substance abuse in putatively normal research subjects

OBJECTIVE: Careful assessment of research subjects is important because the inclusion of subjects who manifest psychopathology and significant substance abuse in normal comparison groups will decrease statistical and experimental power. The current study evaluated the usefulness of an MMPI-derived algorithm in identifying tendencies toward psychosis and substance abuse in putatively normal research volunteers. METHOD: Ninety-eight adults who were recruited as normal comparison research subjects completed the MMPI, psychiatric interviews, questionnaires, and selected neuropsychological tests. The MMPI classified 81 presumed normal subjects into four subgroups: 1) not psychosis prone/substance abuse not likely, 2) not psychosis prone/substance abuse likely, 3) psychosis prone/substance abuse not likely, and 4) psychosis prone/substance abuse likely. RESULTS: The MMPI psychosis-prone and substance abuse factors identified significantly distressed and dysfunctional individuals with a relatively high degree of accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: It is becoming increasingly apparent that the cursory self-report screening of normal subjects may result in unacceptable levels of psychopathology in comparison groups. The current results also indicate that an adequate substance abuse evaluation is extremely important and that brief self-report information may be misleading. Empirically derived assessment tools, such as the MMPI, may prove useful in allowing researchers to more accurately define control parameters and group membership.     

Effect of incest on self and social functioning: A developmental psychopathology perspective.

The effects of child sexual abuse have become a leading concern of mental health service providers. Despite an explosion of studies, one major difficulty in this research is the lack of a developmentally sensitive model for conceptualizing short- and long-term effects and continuity and discontinuity of effects over time. This article proposes a model based in the perspective of developmental psychopathology. It is argued that incest has its unique negative effects in the domains of self- and social functioning, specifically in jeopardizing self-definition and integration, self-regulatory processes, and a sense of security and trust in relationships. Studies with clinical samples indicate that diagnostic conditions associated uniquely with a history of incest reflect serious self- and social impairments. A review of the developmental literature on self- and social development summarizes each major developmental transition from infancy to middle adulthood, and the implications for the negative effects of incest on development are discussed. Finally, implications for developmentally sensitive research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of fathers in child and adolescent psychopathology: Make room for daddy.

Summarizes research concerning the relation between paternal factors and child and adolescent psychopathology. When compared with mothers, fathers continue to be dramatically underrepresented in developmental research on psychopathology. However, findings from studies of children of clinically referred fathers and nonreferred samples of children and their fathers indicate that there is substantial association between paternal characteristics and child and adolescent psychopathology. Findings from studies of fathers of clinically referred children are stronger for fathers' effects on children's externalizing than internalizing problems. In most cases the degree of risk associated with paternal psychopathology is comparable to that associated with maternal psychopathology. Evidence indicates that the presence of paternal psychopathology is a sufficient but not necessary condition for child or adolescent psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The New Look of Behavioral Genetics in Developmental Psychopathology: Gene-Environment Interplay in Antisocial Behaviors.

This article reviews behavioral-genetic research to show how it can help address questions of causation in developmental psychopathology. The article focuses on studies of antisocial behavior, because these have been leading the way in investigating environmental as well as genetic influences on psychopathology. First, the article illustrates how behavioral-genetic methods are being newly applied to detect the best candidates for genuine environmental causes among the many risk factors for antisocial behavior. Second, the article examines findings of interaction between genes and environments (G x E) associated with antisocial behavior, outlining steps for testing hypotheses of measured G x E. Third, the article envisages future work on gene-environment interplay, arguing that it is an interesting and profitable way forward for psychopathology research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classes of substance abuse relapse situations: A comparison of adolescents and adults.

Research in the process of relapse has uncovered important developmental differences in the situations that make adolescents and adults most vulnerable to relapse after substance abuse treatment. This study takes a developmental, person-centered approach to relapse by examining the latent class structure of relapse precursors in adolescents and adults. Adults (N = 160) and adolescents (N = 188) in substance abuse and psychiatric treatment were followed up to 18 months after discharge to gather detailed information about their first relapse after treatment. Both adolescents and adults exhibited a 2-class structure of relapse precursors. Adult classes were labeled social and urges situations (primary precursors: social pressure and urges; 67%) and negative and urges situations (primary precursors: negative affect and urges; 33%), while teen classes were labeled social and positive situations (primary precursors: enhancing a positive emotional state and social pressure; 69%) and complex situations (primary precursors: negative affect, negative interpersonal situations, social pressure, and urges; 31%). Findings are discussed in relation to developmental and clinical considerations in treating clients with substance use disorders and comorbid psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental psychopathology in children of depressed mothers.

It is suggested that the tripartite model by R. D. Parke et al (1988) of the ways that parents influence their child's social development might be used to organize the study of abnormal development in children of depressed mothers. Parents influence their child through dyadic interaction, coaching and teaching practices, and managing their child's social environment. Disruption in each of these areas has been associated with parental psychopathology and has been implicated in the development of deviant child outcomes. The components of a theoretical model of developmental psychopathology are outlined, as well as theoretical and methodological problems that have yet to be resolved. Issues of concern include the heterogeneity of maternal diagnoses; distinguishing among genetic, parenting, and environmental effects; matching the level of behavioral analysis with the question being answered; the heterogeneity of child outcomes; age-related effects; bidirectional influences; and the role of paternal psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locating eating pathology within an empirical diagnostic taxonomy: Evidence from a community-based sample.

Existing structural models of psychopathology need to be expanded to include additional diagnostic constructs beyond mood, anxiety, substance use, and antisocial behavior disorders. The goal of this study was to locate eating disorders within a hierarchical structural model of psychopathology that is anchored by broad Internalizing and Externalizing factors. Participants were female adolescent twins (N = 1,434) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The authors compared the fit of 4 models in which eating disorders (a) defined their own diagnostic class, (b) represented a subclass within Internalizing, (c) formed a subclass within Externalizing, and (d) were allowed to cross-load on both Internalizing and Externalizing. In the best fitting model, eating disorders formed a subfactor within Internalizing. These findings underscore the value of developing more comprehensive empirically based models of psychopathology to increase researchers' understanding of diverse mental disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on attachment and psychopathology: Part 1.

Research derived from attachment theory has generated a rich and rapidly growing body of findings on the importance of early caregiving experience in the development of psychopathology and in the promotion of adaptation. This special section presents research and scholarship on the relation of attachment status to psychiatric classifications and diagnosis in child, adolescent, and adult populations. Included as well are articles that explore the cross-generational transmission of attachment patterns and investigate the relation of attachment status to response to psychotherapy. These articles are representative of the notable impact that attachment theory and research are making in the field of developmental psychopathology. The special section is intended to help bridge the gap between thinking about attachment and clinical research and intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Culture and Psychopathology.

Reviews the book, Culture and Psychopathology, edited by Ihsan Al-Issa (1982). This book consists of 16 chapters on different aspects and issues of the study of psychopathology cross-culturally by a number of different authors, many of them well-known authorities in the field. Topics covered include methodology in cross-cultural psychopathology, social class and affective disorders, culture-bound syndromes, personality abnormalities, alcohol abuse, sexual deviation, psychosomatics, and pain. The book will serve as a good reference both for those interested in the findings of the research on the influence of culture on psychopathology and for those concerned with the issues and problems of research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)