Etiology of Behavioral Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Behavioral disorders diagnosed and treated during childhood and adolescence are characterized by a wide variety of symptoms and impairments. These may include developmental delays, learning disabilities, severe emotional disturbances, emotional trauma, and related problems, which may or may not fall under the heading of psychopathology per se. Developmental psychopathology studies the causes and course of these developmental, emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral disorders that appear during childhood. These phenomena are studied by considering a range of processes occurring throughout the life span, including normal and abnormal development, risk and protective (resilience) factors, and adaptive and maladaptive consequences.