Historical Trends in the Recognition and Assessment of Childhood Psychopathology

Abstract

Surprisingly, the scientific study of childhood psychopathology is of relatively recent origin, primarily dating since the early 1900s. There seem to have been several important historical trends that resulted in a failure to recognize the importance of assessing, diagnosing, and treating mental disorders in children. One important factor was certainly the comparable lack of attention paid to the psychological problems of adults until the late 1800s. Thus, early views of children’s psychological problems closely paralleled those of adult’s mental disorders. These views of psychopathology through the ages will be described in more detail later. As will be discussed, the lack of any theoretical framework for investigating psychopathology greatly hindered progress.