Showing papers by "Michael Rutter published in 1984"

The Domain of Developmental Psychopathology.

Abstract: It is the "developmental" component of developmental psychopathology that distinguishes this discipline from abnormal psychology, psychiatry, and even clinical child psychology. At the same time, the focus on individual patterns of adaptation and maladaptation distinguishes this field from the larger discipline of developmental psychology. In this essay a developmental perspective is presented, and the implications of this perspective for research in developmental psychopathology are discussed. A primary consideration is the complexity of the adaptational process, with developmental transformation being the rule. Thus, links between earlier adaptation and later pathology generally will not be simple or direct. It will be necessary to understand both individual patterns of adaptation with respect to salient issues of a given developmental period and the transaction between prior adaptation, maturational change, and subsequent environmental challenges. Some examples are discussed, with special attention to the case of depression.

Parental psychiatric disorder: effects on children.

Abstract: A 4-year prospective study was undertaken of the families of 137 newly referred English speaking psychiatric patients with children at home aged under 15 years. The group comprised a representative sample of such patients living in one inner London borough. Teacher questionnaires were obtained yearly for all children of school age in the families, and for age-, sex- and classroom-matched controls. Detailed standardized interviews were undertaken yearly with parent-patients and with their spouses. A comparison was also made with a control group of families in the general population with 10-year-old children. Patients' families differed in terms of a higher rate of psychiatric disorder in spouses and a much higher level of family discord. Both parental mental disorder and marital discord tended to persist over the 4-year period, but persistence of both was much more marked when the parent had a personality disorder. The children of psychiatric patients had an increased rate of persistent emotional/behavioural disturbance, which tended to involve disorders of conduct. The psychiatric risk to the children was greatest in the case of personality disorders associated with high levels of exposure to hostile behaviour. Boys showing temperamental risk features were most vulnerable to the ill-effects associated with parental mental disorder.

Institutional rearing, parenting difficulties and marital support.

Abstract: A prospective follow-up study was undertaken of two groups of women first studied in the mid 1960s when they were children: 94 girls reared in institutions to which they had been admitted because of a breakdown in parenting, and 51 girls in a general population comparison group. Both groups were interviewed in detail when aged 21-27 years and home observations were undertaken for those with young children. The institution-reared women showed a markedly increased rate of poor psychosocial functioning and of severe parenting difficulties in adult life. However, the support of a non-deviant spouse and of good living conditions in adult life provided a powerful protective effect.

Long-term follow-up of women institutionalized in childhood: Factors promoting good functioning in adult life.

Abstract: The early adult functioning of 89 women from inner London who had been reared in residential Children's Homes was compared with that of 41 women sampled from the general population of the same area. The behaviour of both groups had previously been studied in middle childhood by means of standardized questionnaires. The adult assessment comprised detailed standardized interviews with the women and with their spouses, together with systematic observations of mother-child interaction in the home for those with 2–3 1/2-year-old children. The adult outcome of the institution-reared women as a whole was substantially worse than that for the comparison group, but the course of their personality development had been greatly modified by positive school experiences in childhood and by the characteristics of their spouse and marriage in adult life. The institution-reared women in good psychosocial circumstances in adulthood functioned as well as the comparison group women. The findings are interpreted in terms of direct and indirect effects of experiences leading to both continuities and discontinuities in social development.

Parents with children in care--II. Intergenerational continuities.

Abstract: Intergenerational continuities in parenting problems were studied through a retrospective comparison between families multiply admitted to residential care in one London borough and a comparison group from the same geographical area. The childhoods of the parents differed mostly in the frequency of severe family discord and harsh parenting. When both parents were considered intergenerational continuities looking backward were virtually complete. Possible linking mechanisms involving either effects on personality development or the transmission of social/material disadvantage are discussed.

Parents with children in care--I. Current circumstances and parenting.

Abstract: Interview data on a consecutive sample of families with children multiply admitted to residential care by one inner London borough were contrasted with those from a comparison sample from the same geographical area. The in-care group were twice as likely to be experiencing current parenting problems with 5- to 8-year-old children, but were distinguished from the already disadvantaged comparison group as much by other kinds of family difficulties as by parenting problems per se. It was therefore argued that parenting cannot be seen as an attribute of individuals irrespective of their current circumstances.

Psychopathology and Development: I. Childhood Antecedents of Adult Psychiatric Disorder

Abstract: The childhood antecedents of psychiatric disorder in adult life are reviewed with regard to four groups of conditions that show sharply contrasting patterns of linkage between childhood and adult l...

Observation of parent-child interaction with two- to three-year-olds.

Abstract: A method of home observations of mother-child interaction is described. Its development is outlined in terms of the relevant conceptual and methodological issues, and the concomitant tactical decisions involved in development are discussed. The scheme focuses on parental responsivity, affect, social communication and social control, and a novel combination of time-interval and event-sequential recording is used to discriminate parental functioning in these areas. The measures have been shown to have a satisfactorily high level of reliability, and preliminary analysis indicates construct validity.

Psychopathology and Development: II. Childhood Experiences and Personality Development

Abstract: Concepts and empirical findings are reviewed with regard to personality development and to the role of childhood experiences in that process. It is concluded that personality development cannot be reduced to the stabilisation of behavioural traits, to the production of a fixed personality structure or to the acquisition of social-cognitive skills, although there is some form of personality organisation in terms of habits, attitudes, concepts and styles of behaviour. Personality development takes place in a social context, with both continuities and discontinuities stemming from maturational and experiential factors and interactions between them. Chains of indirect linkages result from complex patterns of circular processes involving reciprocal interactions between children and their environments. No single mechanism is responsible and no one theory provides an explanation.