Toward an integration of family systems and developmental psychopathology approaches

Developmental psychopathology and family systems theory are distinct approaches that have flourished in relative isolation from each other. Contributing to their distinctiveness, important differences exist between the approaches in the primary unit of analysis. Whereas developmental psychopathology commonly focuses on individual development as the main unit of analysis, the whole family unit is the central object of study in family systems approaches. Accordingly, the primary objective of developmental psychopathology is to understand the nature, origins, and sequelae of individual patterns of adaptation and maladaptation over time (Cicchetti, 1993; Sroufe & Rutter, 1984). In contrast, the principal goal in the family systems approach is to achieve a rich characterization of the interplay among relationships and individuals in the whole family unit, with a specific focus on identifying relationship structures, interpersonal boundaries, power distributions, and communication patterns (Cox & Paley, 1997; Minuchin, 1985).Work on this special issue was supported, in part, by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 57318) awarded to Patrick Davies and grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 45027-01 and MH 45027-06) and the Spunk Fund, Inc. awarded to Dante Cicchetti.

[1]  Tom Hollenstein,et al.  Dynamic systems methods for models of developmental psychopathology , 2003, Development and Psychopathology.

[2]  Patrick J Curran,et al.  Implications of latent trajectory models for the study of developmental psychopathology , 2003, Development and Psychopathology.

[3]  D. Nagin,et al.  Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[4]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Children's patterns of preserving emotional security in the interparental subsystem. , 2002, Child development.

[5]  T. Ujiie,et al.  Family systems theory, attachment theory, and culture. , 2002, Family process.

[6]  P. Minuchin.  Cross-cultural perspectives: implications for attachment theory and family therapy. , 2002, Family process.

[7]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Conceptual links between Byng-Hall's theory of parentification and the emotional security hypothesis. , 2002, Family process.

[8]  J. Byng-Hall.  Relieving parentified children's burdens in families with insecure attachment patterns. , 2002, Family process.

[9]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Developmental Psychopathology and Family Process: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications , 2000 .

[10]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  The past as prologue to the future: The times, they've been a-changin' , 2000, Development and Psychopathology.

[11]  M. Rutter,et al.  Developmental psychopathology: Concepts and challenges , 2000, Development and Psychopathology.

[12]  C. Coulton,et al.  Impoverishment and child maltreatment in African American and European American neighborhoods , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[13]  M. Sullivan.  Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in the study of developmental psychopathology in context , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[14]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Contextualism and developmental psychopathology , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[15]  D. Reiss,et al.  Family systems and adolescent development: Shared and nonshared risk and protective factors in nondivorced and remarried families , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[16]  J. L. Rasmussen,et al.  Coparental and family group-level dynamics during infancy: Early family precursors of child and family functioning during preschool , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[17]  L. Sroufe.  Psychopathology as an outcome of development , 1997, Development and Psychopathology.

[18]  J E Richters,et al.  The Hubble hypothesis and the developmentalist's dilemma , 1997, Development and Psychopathology.

[19]  J. Wakefield.  When is development disordered? Developmental psychopathology and the harmful dysfunction analysis of mental disorder , 1997, Development and Psychopathology.

[20]  Dante Cicchetti,et al.  Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology , 1996, Development and Psychopathology.

[21]  O. Erel,et al.  Interrelatedness of marital relations and parent-child relations: a meta-analytic review. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[22]  Don M. Tucker,et al.  Development and self-regulatory structures of the mind , 1994, Development and Psychopathology.

[23]  D. Cicchetti.  Developmental Psychopathology: Reactions, Reflections, Projections , 1993 .

[24]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Developmental psychopathology in the context of the family: Illustrations from the study of child maltreatment. , 1991 .

[25]  L. Combrinck-Graham.  Developments in family systems theory and research. , 1990, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[26]  C. Kopp.  Regulation of distress and negative emotions: A developmental view. , 1989 .

[27]  P. Minuchin.  Families and individual development: provocations from the field of family therapy. , 1985, Child development.

[28]  M. Rutter,et al.  The domain of developmental psychopathology. , 1984, Child development.

[29]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Affective, organizational, and relational characteristics of maltreating families: a systems perspective. , 2000, Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

[30]  T. Ollendick,et al.  Handbook of psychotherapies with children and families , 1999 .

[31]  Phillip R. Shaver,et al.  Handbook of attachment : theory, research, and clinical applications , 1999 .

[32]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Perspectives on research and practice in developmental psychopathology , 1998 .

[33]  M. Cox,et al.  Families as systems. , 1997, Annual review of psychology.

[34]  A. Sameroff.  General systems theories and developmental psychopathology. , 1995 .

[35]  D. Cicchetti.  Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology: A historical perspective on the discipline of developmental psychopathology , 1990 .

[36]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology: Contents , 1990 .

[37]  E. Wachtel.  Family Systems and the Individual Child. , 1987 .

[38]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  An organizational approach to childhood depression , 1986 .

[39]  B. Rosman,et al.  Evolving models for family change : a volume in honor of Salvador Minuchin , 1986 .

[40]  S. Minuchin,et al.  Family Therapy Techniques , 1981 .

[41]  Lynn Scoresby,et al.  Family Systems Therapy , 1979 .

[42]  G Rosolato,et al.  Symbol formation. , 1978, The International journal of psycho-analysis.

[43]  L. Hearnshaw,et al.  The comparative psychology of mental development , 1966 .