Fundamental Concepts and Methods in Developmental Science: A Relational Perspective

Overton, Willis F.; Lerner, Richard M.

doi:10.1080/15427609.2014.881086

Cited by 77 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…For instance, reductionist views typically elevate the importance of such split formulations as nature versus nurture, continuity versus discontinuity, stability versus instability, or basic versus applied science (Lerner 2002(Lerner , 2006. Split approaches are rejected by proponents of theories derived from an RDS metatheory (e.g., Mistry and Wu 2010;Overton 2013;Overton and Lerner 2014), which in turn are derived from a process-relational paradigm (Overton 2015). Across the past four plus decades, several scholars have provided ideas contributing to the evolution of this paradigm (e.g., Baltes 1997; Baltes, et al, 2006;Brandtstädter 1998;Bronfenbrenner 1979Bronfenbrenner , 2005Bronfenbrenner and Morris 2006;Elder 1998;Elder et al 2015;Ford and Lerner 1992;Nesselroade 1988;Overton 1973;Overton and Reese 1981;Riegel 1975Riegel , 1976and, even earlier, see von Bertalanffy 1933).…”

Section: Viewing Adolescent Development Through the Lens Of The Relatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agency is a defining feature of the active, self-creating (autopoietic, enactive), and nonlinear adaptive living system (Overton and Lerner 2014;Narvaez 2008;Witherington 2014). Such agency is the individual's contribution to adaptive developmental regulations (Brandtstädter 1998(Brandtstädter , 1999.…”

Section: Developmental Regulations Adaptive Developmental Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adolescent Health Development: A Relational Developmental Systems Perspective

Lerner

Brindis²,

Batanova

et al. 2017

Handbook of Life Course Health Development

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The contemporary study of adolescent development emphasizes that the process of development involves mutually influential relations between the developing individual and the features of his or her complex and changing context. These relations are most often framed by models derived from a relational developmental systems metatheory, an approach to theory that is entirely consistent with the seven principles of life course health development. Concepts associated with these ideas are used to describe, explain, and optimize the course of development in the second decade of life and, as such, to frame applied research aimed at promoting health and positive development among diverse adolescents. Accordingly we discuss the relational developmental systems metatheory and the seven principles and illustrate how the ideas associated with both approaches to adolescent development can innovatively integrate and extend scholarship about transitions and transformations characterizing the adolescent period and, as well, afford optimism that relational changes linked to positive change in the health developmental system can be identified and used to promote thriving in adolescence.

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Section: Viewing Adolescent Development Through the Lens Of The Relatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Developmental Regulations Adaptive Developmental Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent Health Development: A Relational Developmental Systems Perspective

Lerner

Brindis²,

Batanova

et al. 2017

Handbook of Life Course Health Development

Self Cite

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“…Importantly, strong evolutionary arguments have been made, albeit not without dissension (e.g., Bateson and Gluckman 2011;Overton and Lerner 2014;West-Eberhard 2003) for the conservation of environmental sensitivity within rearing environments of evolutionary adaptedness. Slavich and Cole, for example, have summarized recent evidence on how social-environmental exposures can regulate gene expression, thereby calibrating individual sensitivity to social context (Slavich and Cole 2013).…”

Section: Vulnerability Resilience and Neurobiological Susceptibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Childhood Health and the Life Course: The State of the Science and Proposed Research Priorities

Boyce

Hertzman

2017

Handbook of Life Course Health Development

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This chapter begins with an assertion that, beyond the cultural traditions that affirm childhood as a period of special and lasting importance, a new science of child development reveals an influence of the early years throughout the life course. Through processes of “biological embedding,” early developmental experiences and exposures become neurobiologically instantiated in the brain and genome, thereby affecting trajectories of health and development for the remainder of life. The socioeconomic maldistribution of exposures to adversities and misfortune allots a disproportionate share of physical and mental morbidities to those growing up in conditions of poverty and disadvantage. These outcomes now appear related to epigenetic interactions between aspects of allelic variation-based vulnerability and the assaultive or supportive conditions of early life. Future research should thus address how epigenetic regulation of gene expression is linked to the neurobiological processes underpinning developmental psychopathology and other maladaptive outcomes. Richer understanding of how early environments can amplify or diminish the impacts of adversity exposure will provide new insights to guide the construction of novel, effective, and early interventions.

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“…From this perspective, stable patterns of behaviour are understood to emerge from, and be maintained or transformed by, the mutual relationships between constituents. Such an approach is more faithful to the complex and holistic development of individuals within their ecological contexts (Overton and Learner, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One promising way forward is to place a central focus on relationships -those between individuals and between groups in a given ecological setting -rather than focusing solely on individuals. Dynamic systems approaches offer an interdisciplinary set of principles that emphasise relationships rather than individual elements, change processes rather than stable states, and emergent possibilities rather than one-way, cause and effect determinism (Overton, 2007;Overton and Learner, 2014). The core idea is that the characteristics and behaviour of entities (whether they be cells, human beings or social systems) depend on the nature of relationships between components rather than the properties of the components themselves (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards dynamic and interdisciplinary frameworks for school-based mental health promotion

O'Toole

2017

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise two ostensibly disparate approaches to school-based mental health promotion and offer a conceptual foundation for considering possible synergies between them. Design/methodology/approach -The paper examines current conceptualisations of child and youth mental health and explores how these inform school-based prevention and intervention approaches. The dominance of discrete, "expert-driven" psychosocial programmes as well as the potential of critical pedagogy is explored using frameworks provided by contemporary dynamic systems theories. These theories call for a situated and holistic understanding of children's development; and they look beyond static characteristics within individuals, to view well-being in relation to the dynamic social and historical contexts in which children develop. Findings -Psychosocial interventions and critical pedagogies have strengths but also a number of limitations. Traditional psychosocial interventions teach important skill sets, but they take little account of children's dynamic socio-cultural contexts, nor acknowledge the broader inequalities that are frequently a root cause of children's distress. Critical pedagogies, in turn, are committed to social justice goals, but these goals can be elusive or seem unworkable in practice. By bringing these seemingly disparate approaches into conversation, it may be possible to harness their respective strengths, in ways that are faithful to the complex, emergent nature of children's development, as well as committed to correcting inequalities. Originality/value -The current paper is unique in bringing together contemporary psychological theory with critical pedagogy perspectives to explore the future of school-based mental health promotion.

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Fundamental Concepts and Methods in Developmental Science: A Relational Perspective

Cited by 77 publications

References 27 publications

Adolescent Health Development: A Relational Developmental Systems Perspective

Adolescent Health Development: A Relational Developmental Systems Perspective

Early Childhood Health and the Life Course: The State of the Science and Proposed Research Priorities

Towards dynamic and interdisciplinary frameworks for school-based mental health promotion

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