Child maltreatment: A developmental psychopathology approach.

Author(s):  
Kathryn Becker-Blease ◽  
Patricia K. Kerig
Author(s):  
Dante Cicchetti ◽  
Fred A. Rogosch

In this chapter, a developmental psychopathology conceptualization of child maltreatment is presented as an overarching heuristic with relevance for understanding the development of alcohol and substance use and abuse. This chapter also provides illustrations from research on how child maltreatment contributes to problem substance use in adolescence. Child maltreatment represents an extreme failure of the caregiving environment to provide many of the expectable experiences necessary to facilitate normal developmental processes. Maltreatment ushers in a probabilistic epigenesis for children characterized by an increased likelihood of failure and disruption in the successful resolution of major developmental tasks. These repeated disruptions lead to compromised developmental organizations of diverse developmental systems that increase the probability of the emergence of maladaptation, psychopathology, and substance abuse as negative transactions between the child and the environment ensue. Person-centered personality organizations and genetic moderation of maltreatment risk on substance use outcomes are also highlighted.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4pt2) ◽  
pp. 1601-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheree L. Toth ◽  
Julie A. Gravener-Davis ◽  
Danielle J. Guild ◽  
Dante Cicchetti

AbstractIt is well established that child maltreatment has significant deleterious effects for the individual as well as for society. We briefly review research regarding the impact of child maltreatment on the attachment relationship, highlighting the need for relational interventions for maltreated children and their families to effectively thwart negative developmental cascades that are so often observed in the context of child maltreatment. Next, historical and contemporaneous perspectives on relational interventions for individuals with histories of child maltreatment are discussed, with attention to the empirical evidence for and the current evidence-based status of several relationally based interventions for child maltreatment. Differential sensitivity to the environment is then discussed as a theoretical framework with important implications for interventions for individuals who have been reared in maltreating environments. Current research on neurobiology and maltreatment is then reviewed, with an emphasis on the need for future investigations on genetic variants, epigenetics, and the efficacy of relational interventions for maltreated children. We conclude with a discussion of the tenets of developmental psychopathology, their implications for relational interventions for child maltreatment, and recommendations for advancing the development, provision, and evaluation of relational interventions for individuals with histories of child maltreatment.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bellani ◽  
M. Nobile ◽  
V. Bianchi ◽  
J. van Os ◽  
P. Brambilla

In a short series of articles, we will review the evidence for genotype by environment interaction (G × E) in developmental psychopathology. We will focus specifically on the characteristics of types of exposure assessed with respect to both their methods and findings. This article aims to review the studies exploring the effects of child maltreatment on children, adolescents and young adults closer in time to maltreatment experience, in a G × E perspective.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document