Developmental Psychopathology in Infancy: Illustration From the Study of Maltreated Youngsters

Infancy is a period of rapid developmental change, characterized by transitions and qualitative reorganizations within and among biological, social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic systems. Consequently, it is argued that it is inappropriate to focus on discrete symptomatology to infer the presence of nascent or incipient infant psychopathology. Rather, disorders in infancy are best conceptualized as relational psychopathologies, that is, as consequences of dysfunction in the parent-child-environment system. Research in the area of child maltreatment is used to illustrate the developmental psychopathology perspective as it applies to relational disorders.