Developmental psychopathology is a field of study that helps us to comprehend better the complexities involved in human development. The most significant goal of this approach is to outline the different paths taken by individuals in the event of psychological disorders and good mental health (Bergman, Von Eye & Magnusson, 2015) . Researchers from this perspective emphasize that psychopathology can be explained as development that is healthy gone awry. The focus of developmental psychopathology is both atypical and typical child development (Cummings & Valentino, 2015) . To establish the parenting, environmental, and genetic factors involved in the longitudinal trajectory of a person’s psychological wellbeing, we should focus on how mental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, antisocial behavior, and intellectual disability, develop from a life course perspective.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is explained as a developmental disorder that causes impairments in communication and social interaction, repetitive behavior, and difficulties associated with sensory processing (Lord et al., 2018) . Individuals who have autism look remote and indifferent and have problems with creating emotional bonds with other people. The disorder is a “spectrum,” reflecting that its symptoms range in severity and type, spreading across diverse individuals. ASD is an umbrella that covers five pervasive developmental disorders, which include Rett’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and Autistic Disorder. ASD is in many countries, and if found across ethnic, economic, religious, and racial backgrounds ( Lord et al., 2018) . The prevalence of the disorder is estimated at around one percent of the population of the world.
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One symptom of ASD is persistent social interaction and communication deficits, such as lack of responsiveness in social interaction, abnormalities in using facial expressions and gestures, and difficulties in understanding relationships. Another symptom of ASD is repetitive and restricted interests and behaviors. For instance, they often use specific phrases and movements, insisting on the same routines, and having a limited or intense interest in particular objects (Lord et al., 2018) . The symptoms are noticed early in the development of a child, and they lead to impairment that is clinically significant in occupational, social, and other essential areas of functioning.
There are three levels of severity of symptoms associated with restricted and repetitive behavior and social communication. The standards include needing very substantial help, requiring valuable assistance, and requiring support (Lord et al., 2018) . The symptoms of ASD in children are more apparent in their second year of life. At this age, according to Lord et al. (2018), doctors can easily make a diagnosis. However, symptoms might be noticed earlier on in severe cases, and subtle signs might not be recognizable until adulthood or adolescence. The intellectual ability of most children with ASD is between average and above average. The causes of ASD are not well understood, but it is believed that ASD is caused by the interaction between genes and environmental aspects. While the disorder is not curable, early treatment can assist in mitigating the challenges related to it.
Antisocial Behavior
The second developmental psychopathology that I will discuss is antisocial behavior. Initially, antisocial behavior was explained as recurrent violations of norms that are socially prescribed across diverse contexts, including the community, home, and school. Antisocial behavior includes being ready to break the rules, breaching the mores and social norms of the society, disregarding authority figures, and physical and verbal aggression towards other people (Patterson, DeBaryshe & Ramsey, 2017) . Even though aggressive behavior gives youngsters short-term benefits, it is aversive to their fellows and results in rejection. Prosocial, which is the opposite of antisocial by definition, is characterized by cooperative and positive patterns of social interaction. The co-occurrence of disorders is known as comorbidity. Youth who have antisocial behaviors are mostly comorbid with hyperactivity, depression, and learning disabilities.
According to research, problem behavior can be conceptualized as either being internalizing or externalizing behaviors. Behavior problems that are over-controlled or inner-directed (anxiety, somatic complains, and depression) are called internalizing problems, while those that are under-controlled or outer-directed (disruption and aggression) are referred to as externalizing behaviors. Based on this definition, antisocial behavior falls under externalizing behaviors. Besides, it has been diagnosed as the foundation of conduct disorder (CD), and this is very disturbing since CD is a lifelong, chronic disorder that is resistant to efforts of intervention and does not respond to adult-controlled tactics (Patterson, DeBaryshe & Ramsey, 2017) . Patterson, DeBaryshe, and Ramsey (2017) further note that a ntisocial behavior is a precursor to criminality and delinquency. Nevertheless, it is still prevalent among the youth; it is the most dominant reason for children who are referred for mental health treatment. Lack of intervention puts students with antisocial behavior at risk of exhibiting long-term and short-term negative consequences. Since antisocial behavior patterns become less resistant to interference with time, early detection is essential, since intervention techniques will be applied early enough to divert children from going through this path.
Intellectual Psychopathology
The last disorder associated with developmental psychopathology is an intellectual disability. The disease is characterized by having an intellectual function that is below average and lack of necessary skills for independent everyday living (Munir, 2016) . The condition often begins during the developmental period of a child. Mental abilities are diagnosed through practical understanding, abstract thinking, learning from experience and instruction, judgment, planning, reasoning, and problem-solving. Testing these abilities is done by administering individual tests of intelligence by a qualified clinician. People who have mental disorders might have difficulties in using skills required for daily functioning, such as social participation, independent living without assistance, and communication. Previous DSM versions define the severity of intellectual developmental disorder using IQ scores ( Munir, 2016) . Nowadays, severity is measured by comparing the ability to meet daily life demands of a sufferer with that of typical peers.
Behavioral characteristics associated with this disability include impulsivity, passivity, gullibility, self-injury, high risk of committing suicide, low tolerance of frustration, dependency, and stubbornness. There is a high probability that people with mental disorders have co-occurring physical, neurodevelopment, medical, and psychological conditions. For instance, epilepsy and other mental disorders are 3-4 times higher in individuals with intellectual disabilities when compared to the general population (Munir, 2016) . According to Munir (2016), d eviations from healthy behaviors depend on how severe the condition is: mild impairment can be associated with a concrete approach of working out problems and academic difficulties. However, severe conditions are related to the need for assistance in doing all daily living activities and limited communication. Mild intellectual disability cannot be recognizable until a child is at least four years old. Causes of this disorder include postnatal and prenatal trauma, brain malformations, seizure disorders, genetic abnormalities, and environmental influences. While intellectual disability has no cure, proper services and support can increase the quality of a person’s life.
In conclusion, developmental psychopathology is a required field as it helps us understand human behavior and health. In this paper, I have used the examples of three developmental disorders (ASD, antisocial behavior, and intellectual disability) to illustrate how psychopathologists emphasize biological and social contexts, rather than diagnostic categories. Developmental psychopathology increasingly helps us understand how children with developmental disorders can effectively cope up with challenges and the importance of supporting them to improve their quality of life.
References
Bergman, L. R., Von Eye, A., & Magnusson, D. (2015). Person ‐ oriented research strategies in developmental psychopathology. Developmental Psychopathology: Theory and Method , (1), 850-888.
Cummings, E. M., & Valentino, K. (2015). Developmental psychopathology. Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science , 1-41.
Lord, C., Elsabbagh, M., Baird, G., & Veenstra-Vanderweele, J. (2018). Autism spectrum disorder. The Lancet , 392 (10146), 508-520.
Munir, K. M. (2016). The co-occurrence of mental disorders in children and adolescents with intellectual disability/intellectual developmental disorder. Current Opinion in Psychiatry , 29 (2), 95.
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (2017). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. In Developmental and life-course criminological theories (pp. 29-35).
