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Chapter 2 - Normal Childhood Development: Theories and Influence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2025

By
Reshmi Nijjar  and
Dushyanthan Mahadevan
Edited by
Shermin Imran
Shermin Imran
Affiliation:
Greater Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
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Summary

A thorough and detailed understanding of normal development in childhood provides a basis upon which we can build knowledge of children’s mental health difficulties. Development refers to expected patterns of change over time, beginning at conception and continuing throughout the lifespan. It is a lifelong process and encompasses different domains, including the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive.

Is the way my child plays with others suggestive of Autism? Could his bad dreams indicate anxiety? Does the fact she can’t sit through a whole film mean she has ADHD? Only with an in-depth knowledge of what is developmentally ‘normal’, can we begin to elicit whether behaviours that deviate from these norms might indicate disorder. This is the basis of the developmental psychopathology that underpins the practice of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. What is considered ‘normal’ development involves a complex and continuous interplay between genetic and environmental (including sociocultural) factors. Despite some variation, there is a consistency and reliability of functioning in children that remains steadfast from generation to generation.

In this chapter we will consider areas including the milestones of development in early childhood; attachment theory, temperament and personality; theories of emotional, cognitive and social development; and development in adolescence.

Keywords

developmentchildhoodadolescencenormalattachmenttemperament

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Chapter
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Seminars in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , pp. 19 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

References

Ainsworth, M, Blehar, M, Waters, E, Wall, SN. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Routledge, 1978.Google Scholar
Main, M, Solomon, J. Discovery of an Insecure-Disorganised/Disoriented Attachment Pattern: Procedures, Findings and Implication for the Classification of Behaviours. In Brazelton, TB & Yogman, M (eds.), Affective Development in Infancy. Ablex Pub. Co, 1986, 95–124.Google Scholar
Thomas, A, Chess, S. Temperament and Development. Brunner/Mazel, 1977.Google Scholar
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Further Reading

Bates, JE, Wachs, TD. Temperament: Individual Difference at the Interface of Biology and Behaviour. American Psychological Association, 1994CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. Attachment and Loss. Vol. 2, Separation: Anxiety and Anger. Pimlico, 1973.Google Scholar
Carr, A. The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology: A Contextual Approach. Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2017.Google Scholar
Devi, L. Child Development: An Introduction. Institute for Sustainable Development, Lucknow, 1998.Google Scholar
Graham, PJ, Verhulst, FC, Turk, J. Child Psychiatry: A Developmental Approach. Oxford University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Salter Ainsworth, Mary D, Blehar, MC, Waters, E, Wall, S. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Erlbaum, 1978.Google Scholar
Paris, J, Ricardo, A, Rymond, D. Child Growth and Development: An Open Educational Resources Publication. College of the Canyons, 2019.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists. TrOn – Development of Language [Internet]. Available from: https://elearninghub.rcpsych.ac.uk/product?catalog=23_TRON_Dev_lang (cited 27 April 2022).Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists. TrOn – Emotion [Internet]. Available from: https://elearninghub.rcpsych.ac.uk/product?catalog=50_TRON_Emotion (cited 27 April 2022).Google Scholar
Thomas, A, Chess, S. The New York Longitudinal Study: From Infancy to Adult Life. In Plomin, R, Dunn, J (eds.), The Study of Temperament: Changes, Continuities and Challenges. Erlbaum, 1986, 39–52.Google Scholar

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