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BASIC CONSTRUCTS IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Developmental psychopathology is the study of the prediction of the development of maladaptive behaviours and processes (Lewis, 1990).It
indends to sharpen awareness about connections among phenomena that may otherwise appear unrelated or disconnected.
Parenting – parental everyday behaviour towards offspring including parents’ cognition, emotions and attributions toward their child, as well as
parenting attitudes and values. Thus, it is a broader concept than child-rearing.
Kendziora and O’Leary (1993) “Dysfunctional parenting is anything the parent does, or fails to do that may adversely affect the child. “
Parenting behavious has usually been regarded as shared within a family but shared parenting may be specific in its effects as it impinges quite
differently on siblings dependent on the individual child’s temperament, gender, age etc.
NATURE VERSUS NURTURE
Phenotype refers to the apparent, observable, measureable characteristics of the individual (such as behaviour, intelligence, height, skin colour) .
Phenotypes is the product of genetic as well as environmental influences
The term phenotypic variance is analogous to individual differences in psychology (e.g., if we measure IQ in a population of individuals and
get characteristics of the distribution of this measure, the variance of this distribution is called phenotypic variance)
Waddington’s landscape
The rolling ball represents a trait of the developing organism. At each fork in the road, development of the trait can proceed
along one of several diverging pathways” (From Waddington, 1957)
Genotype- Genotype is the genetic makeup of a person, The genotype indicates which genes are present BUT the genotype doesn’t tell
anything about how genes behave
Genetic variant In humans the vast majority of DNA is identical and everyone has the same set of genes (for example, the human genome is
the complete set of human genetic information) BUT different individuals have slightly different versions of those genes called genetic variant
of alleles . Variants within individual genes lead to cause phenotypic variability

Genetic-high in bipolar and autism ,-low in anxiety disorders (64) -result of many genes, each having small effects
Environmental -where to live, how much to engage with neighbours and extended family, what activities to undertake - > choices and
opportunities for child development are limited (Psychogiou, 2009) For parents, the level of parental social functioning and responsiveness
may be more crucial for parenting skills than psychiatric symptoms per se.
Genetic transmission- certain M.I run in families (Kendler & Diehl, 1993)
-specificity – children of affective, more affective D, anxiety , both depression and anxiety-children similar comorbidity
(Biederman, 2001). Heritability has been estimated at approx 37% (Sullivan, 2000);
Adoption studies- children of parents with schizophrenia (Kendler & Diehl, 93) who were adopted away from parents were at greater
risk than adopted-away children whose parents didn’t. (Slominski,2010).
Gene-environment correlations
Gene-environment correlations refer to the ways in which children’s genetic inheritance affects the environment they experience, and vise
versa
There are three types of gene-environment correlations: Passive gene-environment correlations, Evocative gene-environment correlations,
Active gene-environment correlations
Gene x environment interactions Conditions in which genetically influenced, or genetically determined characteristics mediate individual
responsiveness to the environment. For example, individuals with a genetic predisposition or susceptibility to a disease (such as certain types of
cancer) are likely to contract the disease if exposed to a pathogenic environment (e.g., smoking) while those individuals who do not have the
genetic susceptibility are likely to be free of the disease, even in a pathogenic environment
Also applies to psychological predispositions, such as mental disorders, or even intelligence . A single gene influences whether breastfeeding
improves a child's intelligence, say London researchers.
-Children with one version of the FADS2 gene scored seven points higher in IQ tests if they were breastfed.
-But the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study found breastfeeding had no effect on the IQ of children with a different
version.
-The gene in question helps break down fatty acids from the diet, which have been linked with brain development.
- Seven points difference is enough to put the child in the top third of the class, the researchers said.

Gene-environment interaction-some risk factors seem to only affect those with particular genetic endownments (81). -increased
likelihood of a child carrying risk genes for depression if their father has a psych disorder + increased risk of exposure to
adverse life events if a father has a severe psych dis (Psychogiou,2009)
ATTACHMENT John Bowlby (1907-90) was a British psychologist, psychiatrist andpsychoanalyst. His theory
was influenced by Freudian Psychoanalysis, Ethology and Biology. Mary Ainsworth (1913-99) was an American-Canadian developmental
psychologist. She devised the Strange Situation Procedure to assess attachment between a caregiver and child
Attachment theory- supports notion that children derive meanings about themselves through parent-child interactions, determining
coconstructed paradigms of self and self in relationships (Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2000).
-attachment (Bowlby, 1980), cognitive-interpersonal (Haines, 1999)- harsh, critical, punitive, rejecting and or neglectful parenting ->
development of depressive “working models” or “cogn schema’ about self and others. –inferences about their acceptability and loveableness.
-cognitive- (Beck, 76) – early adverse experiences and insecure attachments to primary caregivers can create psych vulnerability in the form of
neg self-schema and mistrust of others, which then increase risk of developing psych disorders
The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP)
Mother and baby introduced into the room, Mother and baby alone, baby free to explore (3 min), Female stranger enters, sits down, talks to
mother, and then tries to engage the baby in play (3 minutes), Mother leaves. Stranger and baby alone (up to 3 minutes*), First reunion. Mother
returns and stranger leaves unobtrusively. Mother settles the baby if necessary, and tries to withdraw to her chair (3 minutes), Mother leaves.
Baby alone (up to 3 minutes*), Stranger returns and tries to settle baby if necessary, and then withdraws to her chair (up to 3 minutes*).Second
reunion. Mother returns and stranger leaves unobtrusively. Mother settles baby if necessary, and tries to withdraw to her chair (3 minutes). . If
the mother feels that her child is becoming overly upset, these episodes may be terminated before the full 3 minutes have elapsed.
Infant’s behaviours are very important in attachment classification. These are: Proximity seeking ,Contact maintenance .Resistance ,
Avoidance. . [ Slater and Bremner (2011)]
Attachment types
Ainsworth et al., (1978) original coding scheme identified three types of attachment: Securely attached infants,Insecure-avoidant.Insecureresistant .Disorganized (this type of attachment was added later...(Zeanah, 2011)
Some other ways of assessing attachment...Projective methods that rely on symbolic representation, Q-Sort, Photographs with attachment
scenes (from mildly stressful to more stressful) Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT), The Manchester Child Attachment Story Task
(MCAST)
Assessing attachment in adults
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The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; there is also a child version of the AAI),Semi-structured interview
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Adults are asked questions about their relationship with mothers and father in childhood. They are asked to think about instances when
they were separated from their parents. Or instance when they felt rejected by their parents
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Autonomous They value close relationships, they give a coherent account of their childhood experiences
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Dismissing They deny the value of attachment experiences, have idealized representations of attachment relationships
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Preoccupied Unable to move on from their childhood experiences, over-involved with early attachment relationships
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Unresolved They haven’t resolved feelings relating to the death of a loved one or to abuse (Slater, 2011)
INTERVENTIONS
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Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Video-based Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting (VIPP),The Circle of Security (COS),
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC)
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SELF-REGULATION
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Adaptive control that may be observed at the level of physiological, attentional, emotional behavioural, cognitive, and interpersonal or
social processes” (Calkins & Fox, 2002)
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“Or in simpler terms it refers to a child’s ability to modulate behaviour according to the demands of a situation” (Calkins, 2007)
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Physiological regulation, Biological maturation is key in emotional and behavioural regulation
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Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of physiological regulation
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“High resting RSA or greater heart rate variability in non-stressful conditions”
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“Vagal regulation of the heart (RSA decrease) in challenging conditions” Calkins, 2007; Porges, 1991, 1996 as cited in
Calkins 2007
Attentional regulation
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Three attentional systems (they develop during the first year of life)
1.
Implicated in the maintenance and adjustment of alertness (reticular activating system)
2.
Implicated in the engagement and disengagement of attention (posterior attentional system)
3.
Implicated in the development of effortful control (anterior attentional system)
Are there any individual differences in these attentional systems? (Calkins, 2007)
Behavioural regulation
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Compliance to parental requests ,The role of willing compliance,“Initiation or termination of certain activities, Internalisation of rules!
Executive control
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Working memory,Inhibitory control,Why is executive control important?
Emotions
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“Emotions are a kind of radar and rapid response system, constructing and carrying meaning across the flow of experience. Emotions
are the tools by which we appraise experience and prepare to act on situations”
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Extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating and modifying emotional reactions especially their intensive
and temporal features, to accomplish one’s goals” (Thompson, 1994)
Two distinct processes – reponse to a stimuli and attempts to regulate the response (Cole, 2004). But they are difficult to tease out and
influence each other over time.
Empotion regulation can explain how and why emotions (organise other psychological processes, disrupt psychological processes).
ER as a developmental process
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With age there are changes in children’s acquisition and emotion regulation skills
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During infancy some of the strategies used are Attentional regulation, Self-soothing , Nonnutritive sucking
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For older children, some key aspects to emotion regulation are Emotion awareness ,Appraisal (Calkins, 2010) #
Some methodological issues (1)
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Stimuli and tasks Novel ,Blocked goals ,Adult attention/desirable objects ,Home versus lab, Labs may better able to distinguish
between emotion activation and emotion regulation (Cole, 2004)
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Multimethod assessments,Physiological (i.e., vagal tone, heart rate, frontal assymetry) ,Observations (i.e., facial expressions, tone of
voice), Self-reports (i.e., what’s the child’s age?)
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Contrasting conditions : “Contrasts of social context” “Contrasts of situational context”
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Temporal relationship among variables Demonstrate change (Cole, 2004)
RESILIENCE
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Resilience is defined as “a positive outcome in the context of adversity”
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The concept of resilience can be applied to individuals and systems (e.g., family)
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There are two important components: Risks or threats to development and Adaptive behaviour or development (Luthar, 2000)
Protective factors
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Positive attitude - optimism and sense of humour, Cognitive flexibility - finding meaning/value in adversity, Active coping style seeking solutions, managing emotions, Social support - derive strengths from close relationships (Haglund, 2007)
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Facing fears - learning to move through fear
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Moral compass - embrace a set of core beliefs that few things can shatter
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Physical exercise - has effects on physical and psychological hardiness
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Social support - derive strength from close relationships,Risk,Research on resilience has focused on various risk factors, Parental
psychopathology,Poverty,Natural disasters,Community violence, Child maltreatment, Negative life events. Risk factors are not
equivalent in severity, Severity depends on the risk factor and the population in question (Luthar, 2007)
Cumulative risk and high risk samples ->Risk factors do not exist in isolation. The probability of a negative outcome increases as the number
of risk factors increases. The continuity of risk factors increases their effects
Positive outcomes Absence of psychopathology? Or more positive outcomes? (e.g., social skills, academic competence) Or a combination
of the two? (Catani, 2010)
Protective factors- Do protective factors work the same across contexts? Protective factors can be specific to the risk factor and the outcome in
question (Rutter, 2000)
Multilevel analysis

Resilience is a dynamic, interactive process between multiple levels across time,Call for simultaneous assessment of multiple domains
of variables both within and outside of the developing person (Cicchetti, 2010)
INTERNALISING AND EXTERNALISING PROBLEMS
For children, the impact of dysfunctional parenting seems to be non-specific for child outcome, related to both internalizing and externalizing
disorders. Evidence points to links among parental negative, affectionless control -> depression/anxiety in children
-inconsistent, disruptive parenting with insufficient monitoring -> conduct disorders (Psychogiou, 2009)
Internalizing – Depression, Eating disorders, Anxiety -> Deviant beh are directed internally, against the individual self
Externalizing – ADHD, Conduct, Oppositional defiant disorder-> Externalizing disorders are also described as disruptive behaviour disorders.
The deviant behaviour is directed outward.
Causality shouldn’t be too hastily asserted-established relationship between impaired parenting and child psychopathology may just as well be
due to child characteristics shaping parental behaviour as the other way around.
Socialization research -> parent effects on children
Behavioural genetic research -> child effects- genetically transmitted characteristics of children actively shape their surroundings, including
parental behaviour
Predominant viewpoint today is an interactionist one- each member in any ongoing relationship is a significant feature of the other’s
environment to which each must adapt. Maccoby (2000) argued that from this perspective, the idea that in a long-standing relationship, the
child would be influencing the parent but the parent would not be influencing the child is absurd.
1) socialization- parenting variables such as warmth and control.
Retrospective reports of perceive parenting in their own childhood (Arrindel, 1986)-methodological concern- bias of recall. (BergNielsen,2002).