Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six-site, cross-national study.

This study used data from 6 sites and 3 countries to examine the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood and to analyze its linkage to violent and nonviolent offending outcomes in adolescence. The results indicate that among boys there is continuity in problem behavior from childhood to adolescence and that such continuity is especially acute when early problem behavior takes the form of physical aggression. Chronic physical aggression during the elementary school years specifically increases the risk for continued physical violence as well as other nonviolent forms of delinquency during adolescence. However, this conclusion is reserved primarily for boys, because the results indicate no clear linkage between childhood physical aggression and adolescent offending among female samples despite notable similarities across male and female samples in the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent stress and coping: implications for psychopathology during adolescence

Stressful experiences and efforts to cope with stress are central to understanding psychological distress and psychopathology during adolescence. Depressive phenomena during adolescence offer a particularly interesting opportunity for understanding the role of stress and coping processes in adolescent psychopathology. Research concerned with stress and coping during adolescence is reviewed, using depression as a key example of a consequence of stress and coping processes. Based on this research, it is hypothesized that exposure to and appraisals of interpersonal stress combine with aspects of biological development and the use of maladaptive coping strategies to account for the emergence of significant gender differences in depression and other forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Directions for future research in this area are highlighted.     

Adolescents with developmental psychopathology in adulthood

We conducted a comparative study of the outcomes at 7 years and at 17 years after initial diagnosis of 77 cases of adolescent developmental psychopathology. The results suggest that the prognosis of adolescent developmental psychopathology could be derived at 5-6 years after commencement of medical treatment. The parent-child relationships during infancy to adolescence, considered to affect the long-term prognosis of adolescent developmental psychopathology, was studied. It is believed that the emotional bond between parents and children in early to middle childhood are vital which seems to affect their relationships during pre-adolescence to early adolescence and to the development of adolescent turmoil. It can be considered vital that the development of the infantile provocative state during preadolescence to early adolescence should progress to a more mature ability to negotiate and which forms the core of adolescent turmoil. The function of the latter will bring better results to adolescent developmental psychopathologies.     

Xiaojia Ge (1954–2009).

Xiaojia Ge (“Ge”) died peacefully on August 26, 2009, following a battle with lung cancer. He was born in Beijing, China, on October 24, 1954. Ge made seminal contributions to the study of adolescence and developmental psychopathology, including work on the psychosocial correlates of early puberty, the development of depression, and linkages between genetic factors and family dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical adolescent psychology: What it is, and what it needs to be.

This commentary on the special section on clinical adolescent psychology (G. Holmbeck & P. Kendall, 2002) reviews and critiques the conceptual and empirical articles that this compilation comprises. As articulated in the conceptual contributions to this collection, two fundamental principles should guide research on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of psychological disorder and dysfunction during adolescence: First, drawing on the field of developmental psychopathology, the study of clinical adolescent psychology should focus on the trajectories of disorder that precede, characterize, and follow adolescence. Second, drawing on the literature on normative adolescent development, the study of clinical adolescent psychology must proceed with an explicit recognition of the unique biological, cognitive, psychosocial, and contextual features that define adolescence as a developmental period. Although the study of clinical adolescent psychology, as evidenced by this collection of articles, is appropriately grounded in the broader enterprise of developmental psychopathology, less progress has been made with respect to die integration of the study of clinical phenomena in adolescence with the study of normative adolescent development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Sinking Into the Ground": The Development and Consequences of Shame in Adolescence

Although in recent years the developmental antecedents and clinical consequences of shame have received increased theoretical and research attention, little is yet known about shame's development after early childhood or its role in developmental psychopathology. This article reviews the literature on shame and on adolescence and suggests that attention to the role of shame in adolescent development is warranted for several reasons. Social-cognitive, physical, and interpersonal changes associated with adolescence may each be associated with normative increases in shame during adolescence. In addition, several lines of evidence converge to suggest that shame may be implicated in some of the important gender-related shifts in self-esteem and developmental psychopathology that occur over the adolescent years.     

An internalizing pathway to alcohol use and disorder.

Research emanating from the field of developmental science indicates that initial risk factors for alcohol use and disorder can be evident in early childhood. One dominant developmental pathway connecting these initial risk factors with subsequent alcohol involvement focuses on the central role of disinhibited or externalizing behaviors. In the current paper, we delineate a second pathway that focuses on internalizing symptomatology. Several studies indicate that internalizing symptoms in early and middle childhood predict alcohol involvement in adolescence and young adulthood. We use a developmental psychopathology framework to describe a risk model that traces the potential developmental markers of this internalizing pathway and to consider the relation between the internalizing pathway and the more widely researched externalizing pathway. We outline the markers of risk in this pathway and conclude with a discussion of the implications of this model for prevention efforts and future research. In this manner, we strive for a translational goal, linking our existing understanding of internalizing processes and alcohol use and disorder with our efforts to develop effective prevention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Girls' relationship authenticity and self-esteem across adolescence.

Feminist psychologists have long posited that relationship authenticity (i.e., the congruence between what one thinks and feels and what one does and says in relational contexts) is integral to self-esteem and well-being. Guided by a feminist developmental framework, the authors investigated the role of relationship authenticity in promoting girls' self-esteem over the course of adolescence. Latent growth curve modeling was used to test the association between relationship authenticity and self-esteem with data from a 5-year, 3-wave longitudinal study of 183 adolescent girls. Results revealed that both relationship authenticity and self-esteem increased steadily in a linear fashion from the 8th to the 12th grade. Girls who scored high on the measure of relationship authenticity in the 8th grade experienced greater increases in self-esteem over the course of adolescence than girls who scored low on relationship authenticity. Further, girls who increased in authenticity also tended to increase in self-esteem over the course of adolescence. The importance of a feminist developmental framework for identifying and understanding salient dimensions of female adolescence is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol involvement and dysphoria: A longitudinal examination of gender differences from late adolescence to adulthood.

Although numerous investigations have examined the relations between alcoholism and depression, differing results have emerged. Major limitations in existing work are that it uses clinical samples and is cross-sectional in nature. Using prospective data from a community sample assessed during 3 developmental periods (late adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood), these complex relations were examined with structural equation modeling. Results show distinct gender differences between alcohol involvement and dysphoria. For women these 2 processes were related from late adolescence to adulthood, and this relation was reflected in a higher order construct that was stable over time. For men alcohol involvement and dysphoria were unrelated during late adolescence but converged over time. Reciprocal relations between alcohol involvement and dysphoria were found for both men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment Issues in Psychopathology and Intervention.

Reviews the book edited by Atkinson and Goldberg (see record 2004-00108-000), in which ten contributions from academics and clinicians discuss clinical aspects of attachment theory. In their selection of focus for this volume, the editors have undertaken a large task in terms of the range of psychological difficulties covered, the developmental span across life stages (infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood), and the application of the content (risk, psychopathology, and intervention). Despite, or perhaps because of, the broad presentation of contributions that emphasize differing frameworks, populations, and methodologies, I anticipated a summary chapter or afterword written by the editors to help pull together many of the important life span and developmental conclusions gathered in this collection. (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.     

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)     

Introduction to the special section on clinical adolescent psychology: Developmental psychopathology and treatment.

This article addresses implications of the interface between developmental psychology and clinical psychology for research on adolescence and describes the importance of considering developmental level when designing treatments for adolescent patients. In addition, the articles that constitute the special section, "Clinical Adolescent Psychology: Developmental Psychopathology and Treatment," are introduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal depression and early positive parenting predict future conduct problems in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for adverse outcomes such as substance abuse and criminality, particularly if they develop conduct problems. Little is known about early predictors of the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD, however. Parental psychopathology and parenting were assessed in 108 children who first met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for ADHD at 4-7 years old. When demographic variables and baseline ADHD and conduct problems were controlled, maternal depression predicted conduct problems 2-8 years following the initial assessment, whereas positive parenting during the structured parent- child interaction task predicted fewer future conduct problems. These findings suggest that maternal depression is a risk factor, whereas early positive parenting is a protective factor, for the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Charles Wenar (1922–2008).

Charles Wenar, psychology professor emeritus at Ohio State University (OSU), died of complications from pneumonia on June 19, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. Well-known for his methodological and substantive contributions to an understanding of normal development in infants, toddlers, and children, he was also among the pioneers in the field of developmental psychopathology. He proposed a conceptualization of psychopathology in children and adolescents as normal development gone awry and advocated for a clinical child psychology training program that was well-grounded in both developmental science and clinical child psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Odyssey of Discovery: Lessons Learned through Three Decades of Research on Child Maltreatment.

Research directed toward maltreated children possesses an urgency characteristic of all problems of great social import. Child maltreatment sets in motion a probabilistic path that is characterized by failure in the successful resolution of major stage-salient issues of development. These developmental disruptions contribute to a profile of relatively enduring risk factors that increase the likelihood that maladaptation and psychopathology will ensue. The author describes a 30-year journey as an investigator of child maltreatment. Areas that he has focused on over the course of this investigative odyssey are highlighted. He concludes with a discussion of the social policy implications of this work, including how research on child maltreatment can contribute to decreasing the burden of mental illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of ethnic identity during adolescence.

The development of ethnic identity is a critical facet of adolescence, particularly for adolescents of color. In order to examine the developmental trajectory of ethnic identity, African American, Latino American, and European American early and middle adolescents (N=420) were assessed over 3 years. Two components of ethnic identity were assessed--group-esteem was found to rise for both early and middle adolescents; exploration rose for middle adolescents. African Americans and Latino Americans were lower in group-esteem but have greater increases than European Americans, particularly across a school transition. The course of ethnic identity development during early and middle adolescence, the role of school context, and the variability in developmental trajectories among racial and ethnic groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociogenèse et psychobiologie: Les sources de la continuité et de la discontinuité du développement.

The aim of this article is to reflect conceptually upon the various stakes in development from both psychobiological and sociogenetical perspectives, two prominent contemporary theories of social sciences. Where does developmental continuity belong?...Does it belong within the individual or within his or her environment? Despite explicitly recognizing the influence of social experience in human development, the traditionally old nature-nurture debate remains at the center of theoretical analyses and leads to a futile integration of the two positions. The authors propose a theoretical model, which suggests not to integrate these two antagonistic positions but rather to recognize and utilize their interdependency as a means of viewing continuity and discontinuity as complementary facets of development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparability of constructs across the adolescent years.

Tested construct comparability across adolescence with over 600 White girls (10.5 to 18.5 years of age). Assessed emotional functioning, eating problems, self-reflection, self-image, and mastery/adjustment to examine meaning equivalence in self-concepts and developmental psychopathology. Performed maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analyses (MLCF) to see which model fit the data best and whether the behavioral constructs were comparable in Grades 7–8, 9–10, and 11–12. A 5-factor, but not a 1- or 3-factor solution, provided an adequate goodness of fit. The pattern of salient loadings was the same across the 3 grade cohorts, although the size of the absolute factor loadings differed somewhat. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of measure equivalence, the potential usefulness of the identified constructs for assessing change and continuity over the adolescent period, and, more generally, the applicability of this method (MLCF) to the study of measure equivalence across age periods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Développement des traits de personnalité au cours de la vie: Continuité ou changement?

The trait approach to personality has now attained an important scientific status and traits are now generally considered as fundamental measurement units of human personality. However, some conceptual and methodological problems have to be resolved, notably the weakness of the developmental postulates of this approach. Understanding the development of traits across the life course is important for both theoretical formulation and guiding preventive and clinical interventions. Despite some recent promising theoretical formulations, a review of the most commonly known trait theories reveals that this approach is still not sufficiently embodied in a comprehensive developmental perspective taking into account the entire life course. This article highlights that different forms of continuity can be studied and that each requires a specific developmental postulate. The potential usefulness of studying these different forms of continuity in improving the trait approach is discussed, some methodological issues are raised, and six developmental postulates are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)