Psychiatry: basic sciences
Human development & developmental psychology
Developmental psychology studies how people grow and change mentally, emotionally and socially from infancy to old age. Psychiatrists use it to judge what is normal at each age and to understand how early experiences shape later mental health.
Depth by stage, Pre-U → Consultant (details)
What is it?
Developmental psychology looks at the whole lifespan: how babies form attachments, how children learn to think and use language, how adolescents form an identity, and how adults and older people adapt to work, family, loss and ageing.
Key theories include Piaget's stages of cognitive development, Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory, Erikson's psychosocial stages and modern research on temperament, resilience and adverse childhood experiences.
Medical students meet the basics in behavioural science and paediatrics. Psychiatry trainees study it in more depth for the basic sciences papers and use it daily in child, adolescent, perinatal and old age work.
Why does a psychiatrist need it?
Whether a behaviour is a symptom often depends on age: a tantrum is normal at two but not at twenty. Psychiatrists use developmental knowledge to take a life history, understand how childhood adversity or insecure attachment can raise the risk of later illness, assess children and adolescents, and support parents and families.
What level is expected at each stage?
Scale: 1. Aware → 2. Understands → 3. Applies → 4. Masters / Teaches. What the levels mean.
- Pre-UAwareHas general awareness of growth and human life stages from biology and everyday life.
- Pre-clinicalUnderstandsLearns the major developmental theories and milestones in behavioural science.
- ClinicalUnderstandsUses developmental milestones in paediatrics and recognises developmental delay.
- HousemanshipAwareApplies milestone checks in the paediatric posting; limited use elsewhere.
- Medical officerUnderstandsTakes a developmental and personal history as part of psychiatric assessment.
- Psych traineeAppliesExplains attachment, cognitive, social and moral development and applies them to formulation at exam level.
- Specialist / consultantAppliesIntegrates a lifespan view into complex formulations; child and adolescent psychiatrists work at expert level.
What are the key topics?
Early development
- Prenatal influences: maternal stress, substances, infection
- Temperament and its stability over time
- Attachment theory (Bowlby) and attachment patterns (Ainsworth's Strange Situation)
- Bonding and the mother–infant relationship
- Developmental milestones: motor, language, social
Cognitive and moral development
- Piaget's stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
- Vygotsky and the role of social learning
- Theory of mind and its relevance to autism
- Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning
- Language acquisition
Adolescence
- Puberty and brain maturation (late frontal development)
- Identity formation (Erikson; Marcia's identity statuses)
- Peer influence, risk-taking and onset of many mental disorders
- Family relationships and parenting styles
Adulthood and ageing
- Erikson's adult stages: intimacy, generativity, integrity
- Marriage, parenthood and occupational transitions
- Normal ageing of memory and cognition
- Bereavement, normal grief and its variants
- Retirement and late-life adaptation
Adversity and resilience
- Adverse childhood experiences and later mental and physical health
- Child abuse and neglect: effects on development
- Protective factors and resilience
- Separation, divorce and family breakdown
- Cultural variation in child-rearing, including in Malaysian families
How is it learned and assessed?
- Behavioural science teaching in pre-clinical years
- Paediatrics posting: developmental assessment practised and examined in OSCEs
- Basic sciences in psychiatry training; examined in MMed Psychiatry Part I and MRCPsych Paper A
- Child and adolescent and old age psychiatry rotations during specialist training
Typical textbooks and resources
- Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry — Thapar and colleagues; development chapters
- Introduction to psychology texts covering lifespan development, e.g. Atkinson and Hilgard's Introduction to Psychology
- A Secure Base — John Bowlby; readable account of attachment theory
- MRCPsych Paper A revision guides — various authors
Titles are widely used examples; editions change. Use university libraries or legitimate purchases.
Common questions
What is attachment theory and why does it matter in psychiatry?
Attachment theory describes how the bond between a young child and caregivers shapes the child's sense of safety and later relationships. Insecure or disorganised attachment is linked with higher risk of some later difficulties, so psychiatrists use it to understand patients' histories and relationships.
Do adult psychiatrists need developmental psychology?
Yes. Every adult assessment includes a personal history from birth onwards, and early experiences often help explain current problems. Adult psychiatrists also see many young adults in transition and parents whose illness affects their children.