Developmental issues in child health psychology.

Abstract

This article attempts to illustrate the importance of a developmental perspective in child health psychology. Research is reviewed relating motor, cognitive, and psychosocial development to exposure to health hazards, to an understanding of behavior-health relationships, to the assumption of personal responsibility for health, and to behavioral and emotional responses to illness and injury. In presenting this model of integration between developmental and health psychology, we propose that a developmental perspective be added as a fourth dimension to the commonly employed three-dimensional conceptualization of health psychology.

Genetic testing for hereditary colorectal cancer in children: Long‐term psychological effects

“…In this way, parent-child bonding or attachment may be harmed and lead to psychological distress in the child [Fanos, 1997;Murray, 2000]. Alternatively, the explanation may lie in children's conceptualizations of illness, which involve self-blame, guilt, and punishment [Bauer, 1952;Perrin and Gerrity, 1981;Maddux et al, 1986]. Because children may equate a positive genetic test with being ill [Fanos, 1996], these concepts may apply to the genetic testing situation.…”

Parent Perspectives on Messages to Be Delivered After Nutritional Assessment in Pediatric Primary Care Practice

“…4 Given the focus groups' responses, parental readiness to change regarding family habits may be in earlier stages than has been reported in adult populations about their own dietary behaviors. 5 Because children may be less able to understand and respond to health messages that present future consequences, 6 using this strategy for children or when the child and parent are counseled jointly needs further evaluation.…”

Health psychology for children: A step-child/stepping stone

“…Also, when children's problems are addressed, they seem to be viewed largely in terms of ramifications for later adult health. Such a perspective is valuable in its own right, yet an exclusive focus on adult health ignores the fact that childhood health problems are very different from those in adulthood and cannot be fully understood solely within the context of later adult health (Maddux, Roberts, Sledden, & Wright, 1986;Roberts, Maddux, & Wright, 1984).…”

“…By extricating child health behavior from the context of its importance for future adult health, critical issues can be examined that are of greater importance for children while they are children. One way in which this can be accomplished is by taking a broader developmental perspective in our approach to health psychology (Maddux et al, 1986; . Once a broad developmental or life-span orientation is taken, then important differences can be seen in the health care problems and health care needs of persons at various stages in the life span, especially those persons at the extremes of the age continuum, children and the elderly, who typically are not involved in the power structures of health care delivery systems.…”

“…At least one book (Kart, Metress, & Metress, 1978) and several chapters (Eisdorfer & Wilkie, 1977;Lowenthal & Chiriboga, 1973;Solomon, Faletti, & Yunik, 1982) have been devoted to the special needs of the elderly, and a recent chapter (Solomon, Faletti, & Yunik, 1982) in a major health psychology text (Millon, Greene, & Meagher, 1983) has described the importance of an awareness of developmental changes in providing clinical health psychology services to the geriatric patient. We have described the importance of an understanding of child development in providing health care services to children (Maddux et al, 1986;, and recent books on health care psychology for children (e.g., Russo & Varni, 1982;Tuma, 1982;Wright, Schaeffer, & Solomons, 1979) have emphasized both the uniqueness of children's health care needs and the child development perspective. For most of their respective histories, psychologists concerned with children's health care problems and those concerned with adults' health have maintained separate professional identities: Pediatric psychologists for children and health psychologists (or medical psychologists) for adults (e.g., Stabler & Mesibov, 1984).…”