Lecture 2: Theories and Causes (PSY216) PDF

P SY2 1 6 E XCE PTIONA L CHILDRE N: Lecture 2: DE V E LOPMENTA L DISO RDER S Theories and Causes Learning Outcomes At the end of this lecture, students will be able to: ◦ Describe the influence of various risk factors and processes that impact their course of...

P SY2 1 6 E XCE PTIONA L CHILDRE N: Lecture 2: DE V E LOPMENTA L DISO RDER S Theories and Causes Learning Outcomes At the end of this lecture, students will be able to: ◦ Describe the influence of various risk factors and processes that impact their course of development. ◦ Define developmental psychopathology and underlying assumptions of child development. ◦ Explain the biological, psychological, and family, social, and cultural perspectives Introduction Biological factors and effects Examine these various causal A child’s mental health of environmental factors are influences contributes to a concerns must be considered within the child, whereas family better understanding of child in relation to multiple levels of patterns, community development and how they are influence instead of attributing resources/support, and cultural conceptually related to one to any one factor issues affect child from the another outside. Bronfenbrenner (1977): Ecological Systems Theory Emphasised the importance of understanding systems in which an individual grows when studying typical and atypical development  Please download and install the Slido app on all computers you use What is causing Jorge's mental health concerns ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.  Most clinical and research activity starts with a theoretical formulation for guidance and information Theoretical Etiology – study of the causes of childhood disorders ◦ Considers how biological, psychological and environmental processes Foundations interact to produce the outcomes that are observed over time ◦ Epigenetics Value of theory → provides answers, raises new questions and looks at familiar issues in different ways Developmental Psychopathology Perspective Describes and studies childhood disorders that emphasises: ◦ Role of developmental processes ◦ Importance of context ◦ Influence of multiple and interacting events in shaping typical and atypical development 3 prominent assumptions ◦ child psychopathology is multiply determined ◦ child and environment are interdependent ◦ child development involves continuities and discontinuities 1. Child Psychopathology is Multiply Determined One-dimensional causal model is overly simplistic and fails to consider developmental pathways Multiply determined: consider multiple influences, including developmental profile and abilities, home and school environment, and the ongoing dynamic interactions among these factors  2. Child and Environment is Interdependent How the child and environment influence each other Nature and nurture work together and are interconnected Transactional – both child and environment are active contributors to typical and atypical behaviour 3. Child Development Involves Continuities and Discontinues Continuity – implies developmental changes are gradual and quantitative and that future behavior patterns can be predicted from earlier patterns Discontinuity – implies that developmental changes are abrupt and qualitative and that future behavior may be poorly predicted by earlier patterns of behavior Changes, Typical and Atypical An Integrative Approach Since no single theoretical orientation can explain various behaviors or disorders, we must be familiar with many theories and conceptual models Over time, major theories have become compatible with one another ◦ Each theory contributes one or more pieces of the puzzle of atypical development ◦ When assembled, the picture of a particular childhood disorder becomes more and more distinct  Children’s development proceeds in an organized, hierarchal manner Organization Adaptational failure: failure to master or progress in of accomplishing specific developmental milestones Development As children develop greater abilities or show signs of adaptational failure, these changes can influence their further developmental success or delays. Biological Perspective Considers brain and nervous systems functions as underlying causes of psychological disorders in children and adults ◦ Acknowledges and recognises the need to incorporate environmental influences in accounting for disorders How permanent are early brain connections? Its not permanent Neural Plasticity and the Role of Experience Answer: the brain shows neural plasticity throughout the course of development Neural plasticity (malleability) means the brain’s anatomical differentiation is use-dependent ◦ Nature - basic processes ◦ Nurture - experiences needed to select the most adaptive network of connections, based on use and function of each  Experience comes in all The brain is intrinsically shapes and sizes – shaped by effects of prenatal environment, early experience → childhood illness, diet, traumatic experiences maltreatment, may be enduring and inadequate stimulation difficult to change Concerns or disruptions at younger age typically Alters how neurons form associated with more or interconnect severe organic disorders and central nervous system complications Neural Plasticity and the Role of Experience Genetic Contributions Some genetic influences are expressed early in development (behavioral inhibition or shyness), some show up years later (depressive cognitive style) Expression of genetic influences is malleable and responsive to the social environment ◦ Positive circumstances help a child “beat the odds” of developing a significant disorder, despite genetic predisposition Nature of Genes Genes influence how we respond to the environment, and the environment influences our genes Gene-environment interactions (GxE) ◦ GxE helps explain why some people exhibit disorders and others do not, when facing similar environmental events ◦ Research on GxE – target children with particular risk factors (genetic/environmental/both) that determine best timing and strategies for early intervention Behavioural Genetics A branch of genetics that investigates possible connections between a genetic predisposition and observed behavior, taking into account environmental and genetic influences Familial aggregation studies ◦ Eg: parents of children with childhood-onset schizophrenia tend to have higher rates of schizophrenia spectrum disorders relative to normative prevalence rates ◦ Cannot control for environmental variables that may also contribute to a particular outcome ◦ Conduct twin studies to control for the contribution of genetic factors  Research that directly assesses the association between variations in DNA sequences and variations in a particular trait or traits Molecular Used to search for certain genes for many childhood disorders (eg: autism, ADHD, Genetics learning disability) ◦ Addresses only a small part of genetic risk ◦ Genetic influences are probabilistic instead of deterministic ◦ Most forms of child psychopathology are polygenic Brain Structure and Function Brain Structure and Function Brain Structure and Function The Endocrine System Important regulatory system linked to specific psychological disorders (anxiety and mood disorders) Adrenal glands (on top of kidneys) most familiar because they produce epinephrine (aka: adrenaline) in response to stress Pituitary gland (deep within the brain) orchestrates the body’s functions by regulating a variety of hormones ◦ Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis ◦ Connected to a person’s response to stress and ability to regulate emotions Neurotransmitters Emotional Influences From birth, emotions are a central feature of infant activity and regulation Throughout our lives, emotional reactions help us in our fight-or-flight response ◦ Evolutionary perspective Children’s emotional experiences, expressions, and regulation affect quality of their social interactions and relationships Children have a natural tendency to attend to emotional cues from others, helps them learn to interpret and regulate their own emotions Emotion Reactivity and Regulation Emotional processes divided into 2 dimensions: ◦ Emotion reactivity: individual differences in the threshold and intensity of emotional experience, which provide clues to an individual’s level of distress and sensitivity to the environment ◦ Emotion regulation: enhancing, maintaining, or inhibiting, emotional arousal, which is usually done for a specific purpose or goal Transaction process – emotional reactions prompt need for regulation → influences further emotional expression Emotion Reactivity and Regulation Emotion regulation abilities (seen through emotion reactivity and expression) – important signals of typical and atypical development Dysregulation: existing control structures operate atypically ◦ Emotion dysregulation can be adaptive in one environment, but maladaptive in another Temperament and Early Personality Styles The development of emotion regulation or dysregulation – derived from both socialisation and innate predispositions, or temperament ◦ Temperament: child’s organized style of behavior that appears early in development, which shapes child's approach to their environment and vice versa ◦ An early building block of personality Temperament and Early Personality Styles 3 primary dimensions of temperament linked to child development ◦ Positive affect and approach ◦ Fearful or inhibited ◦ Negative affect or irritability Linked to distinct brain activity that underlies a child’s cautious vs more eager approach to novel situations ◦ Early infant temperament may be linked to psychopathology or risk conditions in several ways May influence later development by affecting a child’s development of self-control ◦ Temperament and self-control must achieve a reasonable balance  Emphasise principles of learning and cognition Behavioural and cognitive approaches differ essentially Behavioural and in the degree to which they apply cognitive concepts and procedures to understanding behavior Cognitive Influences Behaviourists: Assume child is best understood by behavior in a situation instead of stable traits Cognitive theorists: How certain thought patterns develop over time and how they relate to particular behavioral strategies (problem-solving) Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) B.F. Skinner’s studies Examines the relationships between behavior and its antecedents and consequences, the functional approach to behavior No implicit assumptions are made about underlying needs or motives that contribute to child psychopathology ABA describes and tests functional relationships between stimuli, responses and consequences Classical Conditioning behaviourism Pavlov and Watson’s studies Explains the acquisition of deviant behavior on the basis of paired associations between previously neutral stimuli (eg: math problems) and unconditioned stimuli (eg: food/criticism) Paired associations can help explain many adjustment concerns in children and adolescents ◦ Original association unknown ◦ More than one learning paradigm may occur at the same time associations that happen ◦ Dual learning explanations for undesirable behavior are common Social Learning and Cognition Considers overt behaviors and the role of possible cognitive mediators that may influence the behaviors directly or indirectly ◦ Bandura (1977, 1986) Social Learning Theory: Behaviour learned not only through operant and classical conditioning but also indirectly through observational (vicarious) learning ◦ Social cognition – how children think about themselves and others, resulting in the formation of mental representations of themselves, their relationships and the social world Both consider role of affect and importance of contextual variables (eg: family and peers) in both origins and maintenance of concerning behaviors Social Learning and Cognition Cognitive distortions, insufficient cognitive mediation, and attributional styles and expectations are important determinants in development and treatment of behavioral and emotional concerns in children and adolescents In cognitive models, these negative cognitions are posited to be the leading cause of negative emotions and behaviors, instead of events or situations themselves Family, Social, and Cultural Perspectives Understanding context requires a consideration of both proximal (close-by) and distal (further- removed) events and those that impinge directly on the child in a particular situation and time. Child’s environment is constantly changing in relation to its many components ◦ Environmental influences include shared and nonshared types Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model Infant-Caregiver Attachment Bowlby (1973, 1988) integrated parts of evolutionary biology with existing psychodynamic conceptions of early experiences to derive his theory of attachment Attachment theory, instinctive behaviors are not rigidly predetermined – become organized into flexible, goal-oriented systems through learning and goal-oriented feedback Infant-Caregiver Attachment The evolving infant-caregiver relationship helps the infant regulate their behaviors and emotions, especially under stressful or threatening conditions A child’s internal working model of relationships – what they expect from others and how they relate to others ◦ Emerges from this first crucial relationship and is carried forward into later relationships Three Major Organized Patterns of Attachment The Family and Peer Context A need to consider social and relational processes occurring within families, and common and unique ways these processes affect both individual family members and subsystems Family systems theorists argue that it is difficult to understand or predict the behavior of a particular family member, eg: child, in isolation from other family members ◦ Relationships, not individual children or teens, are often the crucial focus  The manner in which the family, as a unit, deals with typical and The Family atypical stress plays an instrumental role in children’s adjustment and adaptation and Peer Major family and individual issues share a common thread in Context their impact on child’s development: disrupt, disturb, interfere with consistent and predictable child care and basic necessities  Society is changing their view and understanding of children’s and adolescents’ mental health Looking ◦ Recognises the importance of both individual and environmental factors in achieving positive development Ahead ◦ Neuroscience and ecological perspectives on human health and behavior consider human adaptation within its normal context Mental health and educational services for children and youths gradually changing ◦ A need to continue developing social policies, allocate social resources and train the appropriate people to implement these policies with this understanding of child and adolescence mental health  Lecture 3: Intellectual FRIDAY, 13TH SEP 2024 Developmental Disorder (Intellectual Disability)