Understanding Abnormal Child Psychology

Understanding Abnormal Child Psychology introduces students to both normative and abnormal development across childhood and adolescence, emphasizing a developmental psychopathology perspective in which behavior is viewed along a continuum from adaptive to maladaptive. The text integrates theory, research, and clinical application while highlighting the role of diversity and inclusion in understanding child psychopathology within a global and cross-cultural context.

Key Features:

• Adopts a developmental psychopathology framework, viewing children’s and adolescents’ behaviors on a continuum rather than as fixed disorders.
• Integrates normative and abnormal development across the lifespan.
• Emphasizes diversity and inclusion, addressing race and ethnicity, gender, family structure, religion, language, socioeconomic status, and physical differences.
• Situates abnormal child behavior within cross-cultural and international contexts.
• Fully revised to align with DSM-5 criteria.
• Expands coverage of risk factors associated with sexual abuse and bullying.
• Includes updated content on emerging diversities, including transgender children.
• Features new research on suicide and suicide prevention.