Development Lifespan Week 1 Lecture 1 PDF

**Development of the lifespan (psychology)** **Week 1 - Lecture 1** **Intro to developmental psychology** **What is developmental psychology** - Focuses on human growth - Changes across the lifespan - Includes physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emo...

**Development of the lifespan (psychology)** **Week 1 - Lecture 1** **Intro to developmental psychology** **What is developmental psychology** - Focuses on human growth - Changes across the lifespan - Includes physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth **Aims of developmental psychology** - Fourth claim (influencing change) is particularly important to occupational therapists **Major developmental issues** - **Nature and nurture** = to what extent is development primarily to product of genes, biology and maturation -- or of experience, learning and social influences - **Activity and passivity** = How much do humans actively shape their own environments and contribute to their own development -- or are they more passive and shaped by forces beyond their control - **Continuity and discontinuity** = To what extent to humans change gradually and in quantitative ways -- or progress through qualitatively different stages and change dramatically into different beings - **Universality and context specificity** = In what ways is development similar from person to person and from culture to culture and in what ways do pathways of development vary considerably depending on the social context **Psychoanalytic theories** -- Freud, Erikson **Learning theories** -- Watson, Skinner, Bandura **Humanistic theories** -- Maslow **Cognitive theories** -- Piaget, Vygotsky **Systems theories** -- Gottlieb  **Theoretical approaches to lifespan development** - **Bronfenbrenner's ecological approach** - 7 layers - Interacting with the environment at each level - Traditionally used to discuss child development - Can be used for development at any stage - **Blate's lifespan developmental perspective** - German psychologist - Constancy and change in biological, cognitive and psychosocial domains - No one age group is predominate - Potential for growth at all ages - Maturing is a lifelong adaptive process - Not all systems develop at the same rate or time - Some will remain stable some will decline some will improve, those that change may do so rapidly or slowly - "use it or loose it" - Contextualism (3 main category) - 1\. Age grade abnormative - 2\. History grade abnorative - 3\. Non normative influences **Life course perspective on occupation** **Occupations are embedded in different communities** - Occupations are embedded in different communities - Provides structure and constraints to certain occupations - Mutual goals that shape and transform goals - During life people join or leave communities due to constraints **Interpersonal influences transform occupations** **Week 1 - Lecture 2** **Trauma and adverse childhood experiences** - Trauma impacts development and engagement through all life's stages **What are ACEs** - Adverse childhoods experiences - Potentially traumatic events - Can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being - Experiences range from physical, emotional or sexual abuse - Abuse or neglect, substance abuse, divorce, or death of a parent - Downstream approach - Cascade of events that can impact a client down the line - Permanent brain structure change **The First ACEs study** - Statistics came from a new Zeeland study of 1,000 people born between 1972 and 1973 - Based on retrospective recall from individuals - Confirmed ACEs are common - Identified a relationship with physical or sexual abuse or maternal neglect increase the risk of depression and heart disease in adulthood **ACEs and brain development** - Amygdala and hippocampus are part of the limpid system - Amygdala = responds to certain stimuli (particularly fear response) - Hippocampus = long term memory and emotional responses - Prefrontal cortex = planning and complex behaviours, social behaviour - Cerebellum = balance - Any changes to these brain structure may have long lasting effect of physical, emotional and conative well-being and function - Changes in the brain can be seen in children who are neglected - Emotional and physical neglect/abuse = to smaller Amygdala volumes - PSTD, depression, emotional neglect = smaller hippocampal volumes - Maltreatment-related PTSD = volumetric changes in the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum **ACEs and child health outcome** - Impaired immune function in the setting of PSTD and depression - Poorer performance on standardised behaviour and socialisation surveys - Lesser ability to fight infection -- changes in T cell numbers - Increases chances to have a chronic medical condition  **ACEs and adult health outcomes** - Lower levels of parent-child attachment - Type 2 diabetes - Cardiovascular disease risk - Inflammatory Gene expression - Premature mortality - Interactions begin prenatally and continue throughout the lifespan - Transient exposure to stress with release of stress hormones is will-tolerated, but chronic stress can be [toxic] to the developing brain and organs - Intergenerational perpetuation of adverse exposures may be further exacerbated by poorer educational achievement and poverty - Unhealthy behaviours and a means of coping with stress - This is the solution the individual finds to cope when few external or internal recourses are available - This, as well as lower access to medical care, can lead to increased risk for chronic disease and early mortality - Increases cardiovascular, diabetes, substance abuse, smoking mental health issues in adults - Altered immunity, brain development, behavioural problems, chronic illness are children's risks **Protentional interventions** **Trauma-informed care** - An organisational approach to patients, families and staff: - Seeing trauma widespread impact - Knowing about pathways for recovery - Acknowledging signs and symptoms of trauma as it impacts all involved in the healthcare arena - Using knowledge to develop a comprehensive program embedded in office/practice/institutional policies and procedures - Efforts to prevent re-traumatization  **6 principles of trauma informed care** - Importance of safety, communication and empowerment are the cruxes of trauma - Can help to avoid re-traumatisation **Resilience can mitigate the impact of ACEs** - Resilience of a child may offer some support - Can impact academic performance and attendance