Psy. HC1 PSYCHO¨PA

• Normalas absence of disorders


  Positive quality of life; function well in different contexts; free of disabling symptoms of psychopathology
• Abnormalas absence of disorders


  Negative quality of life; function poorly; symptoms that form a recognizable pattern (syndrome) of psychopathology, fitting a clinical classification
• Mental health perspective (P&T) - Divergent "four Ds"


  • Dysfunction
  • Distress
  • Deviance
  • Danger
• Normal (statistical average)


  Behavior that occurs in the majority of the population
• Normal (as an ideal or desired state)


  Meeting social-cultural standards of healthy psychological development
• Abnormal (as an ideal or desired state)


  Not meeting those standards
• Normal (adaptation)


  Successful adaptation (adequate or optimal); one can deal effectively and flexibly with various possibilities and difficulties that arise in everyday life
• Abnormal (adaptation)


  Poor adaptation
• In some situations, clear distinction between normal and abnormal. Usually large gray area: depending on observer, instrument and situation.
• Psychopathology


  Refers to intense, frequent, and/or persistent maladaptive patterns of emotion, cognition, and behavior
• Developmental psychopathology


  These maladaptive patterns occur in the context of typical development and result in the current and potential impairment of infants, children, and adolescents
• Examples of fears in the context of typical development

  • delay
  • fixation
  • deviance
• Prevalence


  Proportion of a population with a disorder (number off current cases)
• Incidence


  The rate at which new cases arise (all new cases in a given time period)
• Stigma


  Is composed of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. Multiple levels: public, personal and self-stigma (or internalized stigma).
• Barriers to mental health care

  • Perceptions of mental health and child welfare (e.g., lack of confidence in the system, previous negative experiences, stigma)
  • Perceptions of psychological problems (e.g., denial, beliefs that difficulties resolve over time)
  • Structural (e.g., long waiting lists, high personal cost)
• Theoretical explanatory models


  Physiological models, Psychodynamic models, Behavioral and cognitive models, Humanistic models, Family or systemic models, Sociocultural models
• Continuous models (dimensional)


  Gradual scale from normal to abnormal
• Discontinuous models (categorical)


  Bounded and qualitative differences between normal and abnormal development
• Physiological models


  Genetic, structural, biological, or chemical basis for psychological processes
• Brain development


  1. Pruning: competitive loss of synapses – use it or lose it

  2. Fewer, but stronger and faster pathways

  3. Experience-dependent plasticity
• Interactions with environment (physiological models)

  • Diathesis (predisposition): physiological vulnerabilities (e.g., genetic)
  • Stress: physiological or environmental
  • The interaction may lead to the development of a disorder
• Passive correlations


  Children are exposed to different environments provided by their genetically related parents
• Psychodynamic models


  Unconscious processes, Mental representations of self, other and relationships, Subjective experiences, Origins of (a)typical personality in early childhood (developmental challenges)
• Behavioral models


  • Environment has powerful effects on development of personality and psychopathology
  • A(typical) behaviors are acquired via learning processes (e.g. reinforcement)
• Cognitive models


  • Focus on processes of the mind and cognitive development (e.g. stages Piaget, Vygotsky)
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT): manage problems by changing the way someone thinks and behaves
• Humanistic models


  Emphasizes personally meaningful experiences, innate motivations for healthy growth, and the child’s purposeful creation of self
• Theoretical explanatory models


  • Physiological models
  • Psychodynamic models
  • Behavioral and cognitive models
  • Humanistic models
  • Family or systemic models
  • Sociocultural models
• Contemporary psychodynamic models


  • Focus on unconscious processes
  • Mental representations of self, other and relationships
  • Subjective experiences
  • Origins of (a)typical personality in early childhood (developmental challenges)
• Early psychodynamic research


  • Sigmund Freud
  • Carl Jung
• Behavioral models


  • Environment has powerful effects on development of personality and psychopathology
  • A(typical) behaviors are acquired via learning processes (e.g. reinforcement)
• Cognitive models


  • Focus on processes of the mind and cognitive development (e.g. stages Piaget, Vygotsky)
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)


  Manage problems by changing the way someone thinks and behaves
• Humanistic models


  • Emphasizes personally meaningful experiences, innate motivations for healthy growth, and the child's purposeful creation of self (e.g. Maslow)
  • Contrasts with psychodynamic models (conscious versus unconscious, positive versus negative human traits)
  • Psychopathology: interference/suppression of these needs
• Family or systemic models

  • Understanding of personality and psychopathology of the child based on family dynamics
  • Topics: family type, parenting styles, parent-child relationship, sibling relationship
  • Shared and nonshared (unique) surroundings of siblings
  • Diagnostics and therapy focus on the child within the family setting
• Sociocultural models


  • Culture is not only the background for development; rather, it is a major influence on development itself
  • Settings of ecological models include home, classroom, neighborhood (embedded in meso, exo, macro and chrono* systems)
  • birth cohort (share key experiences and events)
• Developmental pathways


  • Adjustment and maladjustment are points or places along a lifelong map
  • Some pathways are associated with psychopathology with high probability, others with low probability
• Roadblocks


  Events or responses that shut down or slow down positive trajectories (e.g., restricted access to high-quality education, adolescent pregnancy)
• Detours


  Events or junctures that redirect pathways (e.g., a new school, a change in family structure)
• Off-ramps


  Places where children exit a positive trajectory (although children can re-enter at a later point in time)