Childhood Psychopathology Quiz

Developmental Psychopathology

• Studies disorders within the context of normal child development
• Examines the relationship between child and adult psychopathology
• Some disorders are unique to children (e.g., separation anxiety disorder)
• Some disorders are primarily childhood disorders but may continue into adulthood (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder)
• Some disorders are present in both children and adults (e.g., depression)

Classification and Diagnosis of Childhood Disorders

• DSM-5 splits childhood disorders into two chapters: Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorder
• DSM-5 has new names for disorders, such as mental retardation being renamed to intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)

Learning Disability

• Evidence of inadequate development in a specific area of academic, language, speech, or motor skills (e.g., arithmetic or reading)
• 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
• Five essential assumptions:
  • Limitations in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments
  • Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity
  • Within an individual, limitations often coexist with strengths
  • An important purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profile of needed supports
  • With appropriate personalized supports, the life functioning of the person with intellectual disability generally will improve

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

Changes in DSM-5

• 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: chromosomal trisomy 21, an extra copy of chromosome 21
• Fragile-X syndrome: mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome
• Recessive-gene disease: phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Maternal infectious disease, especially during the first trimester (e.g., cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, rubella, herpes simplex, HIV, and syphilis)
• Lead or mercury poisoning