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How evolution can help us understand child development and behaviour

Swanepoel, A; Sieff, DF; Music, G; Launer, J; Reiss, M; Wren, B; (2016) How evolution can help us understand child development and behaviour. BJPscyh Advances , 22 (1) pp. 36-43. 10.1192/apt.bp.114.014043. Green open access

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Abstract

The traditional disease model, still dominant in psychiatry, is less than ideal for making sense of psychological issues such as the effects of early childhood experiences on development. We argue that a model based on evolutionary thinking can deepen understanding and aid clinical practice by showing how behaviours, bodily responses and psychological beliefs tend to develop for ‘adaptive’ reasons, even when these ways of being might on first appearance seem pathological. Such understanding has implications for treatment. It also challenges the genetic determinist model, by showing that developmental pathways have evolved to be responsive to the physical and social environment in which the individual matures. Thought can now be given to how biological or psychological treatments – and changing a child’s environment – can foster well-being. Evolutionary thinking has major implications for how we think about psychopathology and for targeting the optimum sites, levels and timings for interventions.

Type: Article
Title: How evolution can help us understand child development and behaviour
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1192/apt.bp.114.014043
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/apt.bp.114.014043
Language: English
Additional information: This is an author-produced electronic version of an article accepted for publication in BPsych Advances. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at http://pb.rcpsych.org.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1493241
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