© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition by Gerald C. Davison and John M. Neale Lecture notes created by Paul J. Wellman, Texas A&M University PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation Chapter 15 Disorders of Childhood Ch 15

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Classification Issues Distinguishing abnormal childhood behavior requires a knowledge from developmental psychology of what is normal for a child at a particular age or stage Disorders can be viewed as categories or on a continuum (dimension) –Control represents a dimensional variable Overcontrolled children show emotional inhibition Undercontrolled children show excessive behaviors (extreme aggressiveness) Ch 15.1

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Disorders of Undercontrolled Behavior Undercontrolled behavior is excessive or inappropriate for the situation DSM-IV recognizes two classes of undercontrolled behavior: –Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) involves An inability to concentrate on task for an appropriate period of time Difficulties in controlling motor movements in class and other situation (fidgeting, talking) Ch 15.2

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e ADHD Issues Hyperactive children have difficulties in establishing peer relations –Aggressive ADHD children have different social goals (being disruptive) than do non-ADHD peers ADHD can co-occur with learning disabilities ADHD shows within category differences –Some children have attention deficit, some have hyperactivity, and some have both ADHD prevalence is 2-7% in US Ch 15.3

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Biological Theories of ADHD Family and twin studies document a role for genetic transmission in ADHD Frontal lobe function is abnormal in ADHD children –Frontal lobe is underresponsive to stimulation in ADHD children –Frontal lobe is smaller in ADHD children –ADHD children do poorly on psychological tests that measure the functioning of the frontal lobe Ch 15.4

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Psychological Theories of ADHD Bettelheim proposed a psychoanalytic view of ADHD in which hyperactivity results from stress brought on by parental personality (authoritarian, impatient, resentful) Learning theory suggests that hyperactivity is reinforced by the attention it elicits, thereby increasing in frequency and intensity; hyperactivity may represent modeling of older siblings or peers Ch 15.5

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Treatment of ADHD Stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) reduce disruptive behavior and improve concentration –Drug treatment is long-term in that ADHD does not wane with time Psychological therapy for ADHD involves –Parent training –Classroom management programs based on operant-conditioning techniques Ch 15.6

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Disorders of Undercontrolled Behavior Conduct Disorder involves behaviors that violate the rights of others –Aggression and cruelty toward people or animals –Property damage –Lying and stealing –Conduct disorder is marked by callousness and lack of remorse Conduct disorder is more common in boys Ch 15.7

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Etiology of Conduct Disorder Genetic factors may play a greater role in aggressive behavior, but a lesser role in delinquency-related behaviors –e.g. stealing, running away Psychological factors include –Deficiencies in moral training and awareness –Modeling of aggressive behavior (Bandura) –Cognitive distortions in which ambiguous actions are interpreted as hostile Ch 15.8

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Treatment of Conduct Disorder Family intervention involves training parents to reward prosocial behaviors in their children Multisystem treatment targets the child, the community, the school and the family Cognitive approaches involve –Anger control training –Teaching moral development reasoning Ch 15.9

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Learning Disabilities Learning disabilities refer to inadequate development in a specific area of academic, language or motor skills –The deficit is not due to mental retardation, autism or reduced educational opportunities DSM covers 3 areas of learning disabilities –Learning disorders –Communication disorders –Motor skills involve impairment of motor coordination Ch 15.10

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Learning Disorders refer to conditions that impair development in the classroom Specific learning disorders identified in DSM-IV include –Reading disorder (Dyslexia) involves difficulty in word recognition and comprehension –Disorder of written expression involves an inability to compose the written word –Mathematics disorder involves difficulty in recalling math facts, errors in addition Learning Disorders Ch 15.11

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Communication disorders include –Expressive language disorder involves a difficulty in speech expression Difficulty in finding the correct word for a concept Use of grammar is below grade level –Phonological disorder refers to a difficulty in articulating speech sounds, but can comprehend words –Stuttering involves a problem in verbal fluency in which words are repeated or prolonged Communication Disorder Ch 15.12

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Mental Retardation Mental retardation is defined as –Subaverage intellectual functioning IQ score below –Deficits in adaptive behaviors such as dressing, use of money, use of tools and of public transportation –Onset prior to age eighteen Not due to adult accidents or disease Typical onset is in infancy Ch 15.13

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Mental Retardation Ch 15.14

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e No cause is evident for 75% of cases of mental retardation, the remaining 25% are often related to biological causes Biological causes include: –Genetic anomalies such as Down’s syndrome –Recessive-gene diseases such as PKU –Infectious diseases such as Rubella and HIV –Environmental hazards such as mercury or lead poisoning Etiology of Mental Retardation Ch 15.15

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Autistic disorder involves children who –Prefer to be alone –Prefer to have a constant environment –Have severely limited language skills Prevalence of autism is infrequent (.05 % of births) –Autism occurs more frequently (4 x) in boys relative to girls Autistic Disorder Ch 15.16

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Etiology of Autism: Psychological Theories Bettelheim argued that parental rejection induces autistic disorder Behavioral theory suggests that autism results from inattentive parents, especially the mother Follow-up studies have found little support for psychological explanations of autism Ch 15.17

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Genetic factors play a strong role in transmission of autistic disorder –Siblings of a person with autistic disorder have a 75 fold increase in risk –Twin studies show greater concordance for autism in MZ twins (60-91% than in DZ twins (0-20%) Neurological studies consistently find structural abnormalities in the cerebellum of autistic children Biological Etiology of Autism Ch 15.18

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Treatment of Autistic Disorder Drug treatment often involves the administration of haloperidol –Reduces social withdrawal and odd motor behaviors –Haloperidol does not alter the abnormal interpersonal relations or language impairments of autism Efficacy of psychodynamic therapy is unknown Ch 15.19

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