PSY 659 Advanced Child Psychopathology (4 credits)

This course explores the empirical literature on the diagnosis, etiology, course, and treatment of various psychological disorders of childhood and adolescence. Students will become familiar with the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria and their application to children, symptom presentation in children, and issues of differential diagnosis. We will consider how a developmental psychopathology perspective and biopsychosocial factors influence diagnosis, treatment and research of child psychopathology. Empirically supported treatments for childhood disorders will be examined. Students will become familiar with the research methodologies used to develop and evaluate treatments with the goal of becoming wise consumers of treatment research.