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Developmental Psychopathology and the Epidemiology and Expression of Psychopathology from Infancy Through Early Adulthood

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Handbook of Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Treatment

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Abstract

Developmental psychopathology examines the interaction of biological, psychological, and socio-contextual factors that determine trajectories of adaptive and maladaptive functioning over the life course. Understanding the continuity and discontinuity of developmental pathways is important for understanding the natural course of disorder and changes and similarities of symptoms throughout development. In this chapter we review the epidemiology and presentation of psychopathology from infancy through emerging adulthood from a developmental psychopathology perspective. We first discuss the developmental tasks and demands and then the epidemiology, in terms of prevalence and risk factors, by developmental stage and then exemplify for three specific types of disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The burden of psychopathology increases with age throughout childhood, but the types of symptoms and predominance of different disorders change throughout the course of development depending upon the developmental demands of the stage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico City, Mexico

    Corina Benjet

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  1. Corina Benjet
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Correspondence to Corina Benjet .

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  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Johnny L. Matson

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Benjet, C. (2017). Developmental Psychopathology and the Epidemiology and Expression of Psychopathology from Infancy Through Early Adulthood. In: Matson, J. (eds) Handbook of Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Treatment . Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71210-9_2

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