Developmental Psychopathology

The difference between a DP approach and more traditional descriptive psychiatric approaches represented in Child Psychopathology textbooks is clear. The DP approach goes beyond the mere “what” of psychopathology (description of the phenomenology, etiology and epidemiology) to include the “how” of psychopathology. How does normal development go awry? What are the factors (mechanisms) that determine the multiple pathways that may lead to psychopathology in one child, but not another? Because of the focus on “how”, the DP approach has over the last 20 years become the guiding framework for understanding psychopathology in children and adolescents. Courses both at the undergraduate and graduate levels are being renamed from “Child Psychopathology” or “Abnormal Child Psychology” to “Developmental Psychopathology”. Yet, few textbooks have been created to guide teaching of DP courses at the upper undergraduate level.

Amanda Venta, PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Houston, Texas, USA. Dr. Venta's primary research interests are the development of psychopathology in youth and the protective effect of attachment security. 

Carla Sharp, PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Developmental Psychopathology Lab, University of Houston, Texas, USA, where she also leads the Adolescet Diagnosis Assessment Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) Clinic. 

Peter Fonagy, PhD, FBA is Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis and Head of the Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology at University College London, UK, and Chair of the Postgraduate Centre of the International Psychoanalytic Association. 

Jack M. Fletcher, PhD is Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor, Associate Vice President for Research Administration, and Associate Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. 

Part I: Background

Chapter 1. Traditional Approaches to Psychopathology

Chapter 2. Developmental Psychopathology

Chapter 3. Normal Development

Chapter 4. Insecure Attachment

Part II: Problems Emerging in Childhood

Chapter 5. Learning Difficulties

Chapter 6. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Chapter 7. Autism Spectrum Disorder

Chapter 8. Emergence of Antisocial Behavior in Middle Childhood

Chapter 9. Fear and Anxiety

Part III: Problems Emerging in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Chapter 10. Depression and Suicide

Chapter 11. Eating Disorders

Chapter 12. Substance Use Disorders

Chapter 13. Schizophrenia

Chapter 14. Emerging Personality Disorder

Part IV: Special Topics & Future Directions

Chapter 15. Maltreatment

Chapter 16. Divorce, Separation, and Loss

Chapter 17. Quo Vadis