Early Childhood Psychopathology

Early childhood is the most important phase of development in one’s lifespan as the experiences during childhood sets the course for later stages of development. It has been noted that a mother’s actions during pregnancy may influence the development of an infant. The developmental influences include prenatal, perinatal and neonatal environments. (Santrock, 2002) Although babies come into the world with no say or control over which family they will be placed into, or the environment in which they will begin to live in, theorists agree that the first two years are crucial, with early emotional, physical and social development influenced by the infant’s biological and environmental factors (Sigelman, Rider, & De-George Walker, 2013). The

Children are evaluated based on an Early Steps evaluation that determines the child's specific developmental and behavioral needs (Community Outreach, n.d.). The family's concerns, resources, and goals are also considered to include child and family specific needs to act as a guide to set up services. The goal is to empower the family through a comprehensive team of professionals with fewer appointments and more family time (Florida's Early Steps System, 2012).

The day a child is born is a wonderful and happy time in any parent’s life. Parents wish that their child has nothing but a lifetime of success and happiness. No parent thinks that they alone, or rather the type of parent they are can shape who or what their child will become. Parenting styles can vary from household to household, culture to culture, and even between a set of parents. Some parents swear that they will never become they type of parent that their parents were, while others swear by the way they were raised. Now more than ever we hear about how parenting style can affect a child. In chapter 4 of Exploring Psychology, Myers and Dewall (2016) we are introduced to three parenting styles, Authoritatian, Authoriatative, and Permissive, and how these types of parents affect their children’s traits. Many factors like environment, temperament and life experiences will play a role on a child; parenting style can directly affect a child’s traits and how productive of an adult they will become.

Once a child is born and their development continues, then starts the controversy and wonder as to whether how the child is raised effects their outcome in adult hood, or whether they are just born to be a certain way. Child psychology looks into the many different factors that affect the pregnancy and raising a child. Such as, parenting styles, and how the environment (nurture) and the genetics (nature) play an important role in the child’s development.

Keywords: child development, developmental milestones, temperament, parenting style, child development theories, trajectory, social and moral development.

In this chapter the first this we read about was cultural beliefs about what is normal and what is abnormal. Then we read about the prevalence of mental health problems in children and adolescents. We learned that mental health disorders are quite common in young people and about 40% of adolescents have experienced a diagnosable disorder during this past year and about on in 10 children suffer from a disorder that affects their development and yet they fail to get the treatment that they need. We then read about risk factors for childhood disorders, the risk factors include genetic susceptibility, prenatal influences on the developing brain, environmental stressors, family factors, ethnic minority statues, anxiety and depressive disorders,

The article mainly discusses how Thompson is researching how stress can affect a children’s developing for both for good or for worse; both neurologically and biologically. But he also discusses how the chronic stress that children undergoes can be moderated or even reversed because the child’s brain is still developing. He focuses on kids who either: live in poverty, witness domestic violence, live in foster care, are abused or neglected, etc. to see how resources provided to children and stress can threaten a child’s development. Thompson argues that children are designed to rely on their early experiences to help shape themselves to become healthy or maladaptive. He divides his article in several sections each giving different information on development biology, stress, and developmental plasticity. Each section then ties to how it can contribute to a developing child.

Young offenders are at risk of reoffending into adulthood if the correct education isn't aimed at them. Schools have a high potential to assist in crime prevention and intervention as they have regular access to the child during the critical stages of life. Schools are staffed with people that are invested in promoting youth to develop a healthy happy and productive citizens. With many of the precursors of delinquent behavior are school-related procures and, therefore, likely to be amenable to change at school by intervention from the school.

127), is one that has a much larger impact on the child. Based on a journal article written by Fu and Markus (2014), a parenting practice of interdependence between the parent and the child, may better benefit a child under pressure as compared to the practice of individuality of the child himself (p. 746). This shows that the practice exercised by parents does have a huge impact on the child’s emotional and socio well- being (Fu and Markus, 2014, p. 745). Commonly known parenting practices would include ‘talking to the child’, ‘having infant oriented goals’ and ‘planning ahead for the child’ (Willingham, 2013, para. 5). Hence even though Amy Chua has applied a parenting method of ‘planning ahead for the child’, in which she thinks ahead for her child’s future, her approach is not ideal. Making use of her authority as a Mother, she makes life decisions for her child (Chua, 2011b, para. 17), resulting in her daughter’s defiance over the years (Chua, 2011c, para. 4). With this, it can be concluded that it is not the parenting style that affects the child, but the parenting methods adopted by the

Teachers receive decent pay despite what some people think, which is rather surprising because they don’t have work for three months out of the year, unless they teach summer school. However, teachers do not make as much as psychologists make in a year, psychologists make $69,250 per year, but psychologists also set their own hours, and they have an hourly rate as well as their annual income. The hourly rate causes their annual income to vary depending on the number of hours they work. While there are many similarities and differences between the two majors that are early childhood education and psychology, psychology is the far superior major because of education, benefits, and job description.

The science of early brain development can inform investments in early childhood. These basic concepts, established over decades of neuroscience and behavioral research, help illustrate why child development—particularly from birth to five years—is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society. (Center on the Develoing Child, 2007) In this paper the author will focus on the brain development from birth to early preschool age. Examine the role of attachment, interactions and environmental factors that influence the process of development.

Child psychology covers psychological aspects of childhood, from before a child is born until the age of 18 years. In child psychology, the focus of study is on describing and explaining the aspects of child development by researching individual children and how they develop throughout their childhood. Child psychologists assess the physical, emotional, cognitive and social development of children and related milestones, and explore how this “development is shaped by internal and external influences” (Farrington-Flint and Montgomery, 2016). It is typical for children to achieve certain development-related milestones, such as walking and talking, and child psychology aims to explain “how children reach these milestones, and how individual differences

Years on, many researches and observations have been undertaken and new psychoanalytical theories started to reject Freud's and Erikson's staged view on child development and replaced it by introducing child emotional development in the context of development of self and attachment with significant others.

In this essay, I will discuss my experience during middle and late childhood. I will address three stages which are the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. The physical development consists of body and brain growth, health issues, and motor skills. The cognitive development consists of language, memory, and attention. Socioemotional development is based on relationship, employment, and personality.

Environmental factors as family, learning environment, and community along with other biological, social and psychological forces contribute to children’s development(6). Erik Erikson, a psychoanalytic theorist, called the psychosocial stage during early childhood “initiative versus guilt” stage. It involves make believe play and ambition which develop when “parents support their child’s sense of purpose”(13).