Child Development: An Overview for MDT s

1. Child Development: An Overview for MDT’s Alicia Benedetto, Ph.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist Assessment & Resource Center (ARC) Columbia, SC

2. There are two infancies Infancy of childhood Infancy of adulthood We will review benchmarks of development from 2 ½ - 18 years Physical Linguistic Cognitive Social / Emotional Sexual

3. TODDLERS

4. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsPhysical Skills Gross Motor clumsy runner at 18 months runs fairly well at two years (wide stance) jumps with both feet by 30 months can stand on one foot by 3 years rides a tricycle at 3

5. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsPhysical Skills Fine Motor progressive skills such as page-turning stacking and lining feeding self dressing self

6. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Receptive language superior to expressive language • Knows 300 words at 2 » 1,000 at 3 • Egocentric: assumes you know what (s)he knows • Concrete

7. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development Focuses on one central aspect of a situation Can’t classify / order (stronger, taller, first) • Symbolic representation » complex play • Lacks symbolic representation of self • Concept of gender identity, but not fixed

8. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsSocial & Emotional Development • Seeks adult approval • Separation from caregiver is difficult, especially in novel settings • Asserts more independence; concept of “I” • Displays affection

9. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsGenital/Sexual Behavior • Interested in potty behavior • Touches / rubs own genitals (exploratory) • Imitative play (doctor, parent) • Watches / pokes • Touches breasts • Uninhibited

10. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsAssessment Considerations Able to separate from caregiver? Verbal? How verbal? Intelligible? Attention span? What activities will be rapport-building? What media will / won’t be useful?

11. Toddler: 18 months–3 yearsInterview Issues • Hewitt’s “Stage 1 interview” • Actions and words give clues to possible abuse, but emphasis on the assessor to anchor and structure this information within the child’s status and history

12. PRE-SCHOOLERS

13. Preschool: 3-4 yearsPhysical Skills Gross Motor as balance improves, skills improve tricycle riding jumping with both feet from elevations alternate footing up, then down stairs dancing skipping throwing overhand and catching

14. Preschool: 3-4 yearsPhysical Skills Fine Motor drawing improves: circle, cross, face at 3 to square, tracing, and stick figure at 4 begins to use scissors may lace shoes, but can’t tie them

15. Preschool: 3–4 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Gets prepositions, works on colors and counting • Superficial, erroneous causal links • Can’t shift perspective • Fantasy/reality blurred • Egocentric • Basic concept of right/wrong, works on truth/lie

16. Preschool: 3–4 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Poor source monitoring / source attribution • Begins to classify, still faulty • Time poorly understood • Symbolic representation of self emerges between 3 and 4 • Can remember events for years

17. Preschool: 3–4 years Social & Emotional Development • Responds well to praise & encouragement • Sees family as central • “All or nothing” feelings / opinions • Identifies with parents and likes to imitate them • Tends to be protective of parents

18. Preschool: 3–4 years Social & Emotional Development • Growing social network, more relationships Displays independence • “World view” is applied & modified • Gender identity grows in importance • More suggestible than other people

19. Preschool: 3–4 years Genital/Sexual Behavior • Touches/rubs own genitals (specific) • Watches/asks about body functions • Still touches breasts • Disinhibited/inhibited • Mimics / plays house • Kissing / holding hands • Private parts are serious . . . and funny

20. Preschool: 3-4 yearsAssessment Considerations Will separation from caregiver be an issue? Narrative ability? Attention span? How assertive / compliant? Competency? Representational Shift? What techniques can I employ?

21. Preschool: 3–4 years Interview Issues • Hewitt’s “Stage 2 interview” for 3 - 4 year olds: • Period of transitioning skills. Carefully evaluate the current status of these children’s capabilities to ensure that the best match between interview style and the skills of the child is offered.

22. EARLY SCHOOL

23. Early School: 5 - 6 yearsPhysical Skills Motor more coordinated (skips, hops, throws, catches, skates) balances on alternate feet with eyes closed more dexterous drawing, painting tying shoe laces vision reaches maturity

24. Early School: 5–6 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Gender identity is made permanent (4-5) • Gets colors, counting • Better with classifying/hierarchies • Still egocentric

25. Early School: 5–6 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Superficial, erroneous causal links • Symbolic representation of self • Complex symbolic play • Gets truth/lie; wants to play by the rules

26. Early School: 5–6 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Improved source monitoring / source attribution • Fantasy/reality less blurred • Time still poorly understood

27. Early School: 5–6 years Social & Emotional Development • Responds well to praise & encouragement • Sees family as central • Identifies with parents and likes to imitate them • Tends to be protective of parents

28. Early School: 5–6 years Social & Emotional Development • Wider social network, more relationships • Displays independence • “World view” is applied & modified • “All or nothing” feelings

29. Early School: 5–6 years Genital/Sexual Behavior • Touches / rubs own genitals (specific) • Watches / asks • Uninhibited / inhibited • Mimics / plays house • Kissing / holding hands • Private parts are still serious and funny

30. Early School: 5–6 years Assessment Considerations Source monitoring? Narrative ability? Sequencing ability? What techniques / media can I employ?

31. Early School: 5–6 yearsInterview Issues • Hewitt’s “Stage 3" interview for 5-6 year olds: Most of these children are able to respond to standardized interview formats; however, there are still important interview abilities they do not possess (e.g., time)

32. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

33. Elementary School: 7 - 11 yearsPhysical Skills Working on mastery through practice Lots of energy Movements become more fluid Limber (bones grow faster than ligaments)

34. Elementary School: 7–11 yearsLanguage & Cognitive Development • Understands & expresses more abstract concepts • Able to separate fantasy from reality • Strong likes / dislikes opinionated • Self-view more important

35. Elementary School: 7 - 11 years Language & Cognitive Development • Much moral development • Comprehends complex relationships • Improved sequencing of events • Sense of time improves, but still is problematic

36. Elementary School: 7 - 11years Social & Emotional Development • Independence / dependence • Teachers / peers gain importance • Strong sense of fairness • Family important, but conflicts emerge between family & peer values • Can express mixed emotions

37. Elementary School: 7 - 11 years Genital/Sexual Behavior • Masturbates with hand • Looks at nude pictures • Repulsed by/interested in opposite sex • Exhibition/inhibition • Tries to look at people undressing • May still undress in front of care givers • Kissing/“dating”

38. Elementary School: 7-11 yearsAssessment Considerations External barriers to disclosure? Internal barriers to disclosure? What techniques can I employ?

39. ADOLESCENCE

40. Physical Development: The new equipment’s here! Rapid body changes Secondary sex characteristics Girls: growth spurt peaks 13 – 15 years breasts / hips grow for several more years Boys: growth spurt peaks 16 – 19

41. Cognitive Development Thinking becomes more self-conscious, idealistic, and critical Able to reason, generalize, form hypotheses and test them Events can be “viewed” from many perspectives By 14, decision-making process is same as for adults So why do they make so many bad decisions?

42. Cognitive Development Don’t consider all the consequences of words or acts Limited life experience Brain still under construction Frontal / Prefrontal lobes responsible for • reasoning • goal and priority setting• impulse inhibition• emotional control• determining right from wrong• determining cause and effect relationships

43. Cognitive Development Frontal / Prefrontal lobes still under construction until 20 - something Pruning Myelination Adolescents rely on emotional decision-making driven by another part of the brain (amygdala) Reactive (juvenile) vs. Reflective (adult)

44. Cognitive Development Later Adolescence (16 – 19) Symbolic reasoning and use of formal logic improves “Fluid intelligence” is reached by the end of this period: ability to cope with new problems and situations

45. Language Development Can often communicate like an adult May not ask for clarification or disclose when (s)he doesn’t understand language Slang may have more meaning than formal language Trouble with double negatives Lose track of long, complex questions

46. Social / Emotional Development: These are heady times Identity issues Idealistic about relationships, values Concerned with meaningful interpersonal relationships Feels misunderstood Rapid mood changes

47. Social / Emotional Development Often doesn’t trust adults; strong sense of peer identity Concerned with personal morality code over social morality code Friendships have greater emphasis on intimacy and loyalty Concerned with the present

48. Social / Emotional Development Early Adolescence (13 – 15): Conformity to peer pressure Independence v. dependence Challenging authority Increase in parent-child conflicts Later Adolescence (16 -19): Cliques / peer pressure decline in importance Increased assertiveness / launching Continued conflict with parents Internalization of external rules

49. Risk-Taking Natural part of identity development, individuation Early adolescence is a time of particular vulnerability

50. Sexual Behavior Masturbation becomes goal-directed Full range of sexual behavior / experimentation possible Ambivalence / discomfort with body Preoccupied with sexual issues Sexual orientation issues come to forefront

51. Sexual Behavior: 12-14 year olds 19% are sexually active 13-15% of the girls become pregnant 13% of the girls describe the sex as involuntary 24% of the relationships involve a partner two or more years older 12% involve a partner three or more years older

52. Sexual Behavior: 12-14 year olds Sexual activity highly correlated with A&D, engaging in other delinquent acts Parents say they are talking to their kids about sex a lot more than the kids say that they are 34% of boys think it’s okay to pressure girls for sex 14% of girls think it’s okay to be pressured

53. Teens and Sex Nearly 1 in 10 kids lose virginity by 13. 1 in 4 sexually active teens will contract an STD. 20% of sexually active girls 15 to 19 get pregnant each year. 1/2 of teens 13-19 have had oral sex. U.S. News &World Report, May 27, 2002

54. Teens and Sex 16% of high school sophomores have had 4 or more sexual partners. 2/3 of teens are sexually active by the end of high school. U.S. News &World Report, May 27, 2002

55. “We didn’t have sex.” Adolescents may maintaining “technical virginity” But they still may engage in oral sex anal sex U.S. News &World Report, May 27, 2002

56. Quotable “We do not interview children; we interview one child at a time.” Anne Graffam Walker “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have [him] around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much [he] had learned in seven years.” Mark Twain

57. This presentation was originally prepared and presented by Allison DeFelice, Ph.D. of the Assessment & Resource Center (ARC) in Columbia, S.C.