NCLT and Life Course Theory

Abstract

The NCLT model has a number of properties chief among them is the idea that multiple variables and life experiences interacted with a constitutionally provided core to produce an outcome that is sometimes adaptive and, as in the case of mental illness, sometimes not adaptive. In this regard it fit the Life Course Model of Disease which posits that there are differences in health patterns that result from broad social, economic, and environmental factors that underlie causes of persistent inequalities in health for a wide range of diseases and conditions across population groups. Both models support the idea that early experiences, as much as and perhaps to a greater extent than later experiences, facilitate the development of specific pathways and trajectories thereby significantly influencing an individual’s future health and development. NCLT extends the Life Course model to the treatment of mental illness conceptualized as emerging as a result of life course processes. Its focus is on the individual and how that individual adapts to the life course events that they interact with.