Developmental psychopathology is the study of the development of psychological disorders (e.g., psychopathy, autism, schizophrenia and depression) with a life course perspective.
[2] Developmental psychopathology focuses on both typical and atypical child development in an effort to identify genetic, environmental, and parenting factors that may influence the longitudinal trajectory of psychological well-being.
Dante Cicchetti is acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in defining and shaping the field of developmental psychopathology.
[6] While at Harvard University, Cicchetti began publishing on the development of conditions such as depression and borderline personality disorder, in addition to his own work on child maltreatment and mental retardation.
[10] Gerald R. Patterson and colleagues take a functionalist view of conduct problems in line with a behavior analysis of child development.