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Definition
Maladjustment is the result of insufficient responses to demands that may occur throughout the life span and result in impaired functioning, distress, and/or poor health. The term maladaptive refers to processes (e.g., specific behaviors, patterns of thought or emotion that yield negative outcomes) whereas maladjustment is the result or outcome of this process.
Description
The terms maladjustment and maladaptive are used in a wide range of contexts, which may broadly be categorized as social, psychological, and biological. Social maladjustment refers to how a person develops and maintains interpersonal relationships, especially with peers. Maladaptive behaviors in this realm often emerge during childhood when individuals learn how to navigate their social world and solve interpersonal problems. During this period, children face changing school settings and social networks. Children who are not able to...
References and Further Reading
Hoek, H. W., Brown, A. S., & Susser, E. (1998). The Dutch famine and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 33, 373–379.
King, S., & Laplante, D. P. (2005). The effects of prenatal maternal stress on children’s cognitive development: Project ice storm. Stress, 8, 35–45.
Kuppens, P., Allen, N. B., & Sheeber, L. B. (2010). Emotional inertia and psychological maladjustment. Psychological Science, 21, 984–991. doi:10.1177/0956797610372634.
Ladd, G. W., & Price, J. M. (1987). Predicting children’s social and school adjustment following the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Child Development, 58, 1168–1189.
McEwen, B., & Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual: Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153, 2093–2101.
Roseboom, T. J., van der Meulen, J. H. P., Ravelli, A. C. J., Osmond, C., Barker, D. J. P., & Bleker, O. P. (2001). Effects of prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine on adult disease in later life: An overview. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 185, 93–98.
Seeman, T. E., Singer, B. H., Rowe, J. W., Horwitz, R. I., & McEwen, B. S. (1997). Price of adaptation-allostatic load and its health consequences: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Archives of Internal Medicine, 157, 2259–2268.
Siegler, I. C., Peterson, B. L., Barefoot, J. C., & Williams, R. B. (1992). Hostility during late adolescence predicts coronary risk factors at mid-life. American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 145–154.
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Busse, D., Yim, I.S. (2017). Maladaptive/Maladjustment. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_32-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_32-2
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