Developmental factors in child behavior therapy

Abstract

This paper examines the contribution that developmental psychology might make to practice and research in child behavior therapy. Drawing upon the specific areas of phobic behavior and attention deficits, the authors examine what developmental research can tell us about the normal experience of fearfulness in childhood and the growth of attending skills with age. Unless the behavior therapist understands how children behave normally and what constitutes normal deviations in behavior, it is sometimes difficult to know when to intervene clinically. Developmental research also has a contribution to make in the selection of treatment procedures for children. Again, from the areas of phobic behavior and attention deficits, the authors examine the development of those skills necessary for the use of imagery and the use of cognitive skills in behavior therapy. The paper argues for the greater use of developmental research in child behavior therapy and points out that developmental research might benefit from the challenge of having to account for deviations as well as normality.