Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disorders

Developmental Psychopathology

• Studies disorders within the context of normal child development
• Examines the relationship between child and adult psychopathology

Classification and Diagnosis of Childhood Disorders

• DSM-5 splits childhood disorders into two chapters: Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorder
• New names for disorders, e.g., mental retardation is now called intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)

Learning Disability

• Evidence of inadequate development in a specific area of academic, language, speech, or motor skills
• Not due to intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, physical disorder, or lack of educational opportunity
• Individual usually of average or above average intelligence
• Often identified and treated in school
• Reading disorders are more common in boys

Specific Learning Disorder

• DSM-5 criteria: difficulties in learning basic academic skills (reading, mathematics, or writing) inconsistent with person's age, schooling, and intelligence
• Significant interference with academic achievement or activities of daily living
• Dyscalculia and dyslexia are no longer distinct diagnoses
• Specifiers include impairments in reading, written expression, and mathematics

Intellectual Disability (Intellectual Developmental Disorder)

• Formerly called mental retardation in DSM-IV-TR
• Characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior
• Begins before age 18
• The AAIDD definition includes five assumptions essential to the application of the definition

DSM-5 Criteria for Intellectual Disability

• Intellectual deficits (e.g., in solving problems, reasoning, abstract thinking) determined by intelligence testing and broader clinical assessment
• Significant deficits in adaptive functioning relative to the person's age and cultural group in one or more of the following areas: communication, social participation, work or school, independence at home or in the community
• Requiring the need for support at school, work, or independent life
• Onset before age 18

DSM-5 Changes

• Explicit recognition that an IQ score must be considered within the cultural context of a person
• Adaptive functioning must also be assessed and considered within the person's age and cultural group
• No longer distinguish among mild, moderate, and severe ID based on IQ scores alone

Etiology of Intellectual Disability

• Neurological factors: Down syndrome, Fragile-X syndrome, Recessive-gene disease (e.g., Phenylketonuria), Maternal infectious disease, Lead or mercury poisoning

Treatment of Intellectual Disability

• Residential treatment: small to medium-sized community residences
• Behavioral treatments: language, social, and motor skills training, Method of successive approximation to teach basic self-care skills, Applied behavioral analysis
• Cognitive treatments: problem-solving strategies
• Computer-assisted instruction