ECD951 - Family Relationships & Impact on Psych Disorders

Outline info
Last revision date 2016-07-14 15:19:38.88
Last review date 2016-07-14 15:19:38.883

Subject Title
Family Relationships & Impact on Psych Disorders

Subject Description
Students will examine the interconnectedness of family relationships and their effect on common psychiatric disorders in infant, child and adolescent populations. This course will review the developmental stages, familial structures and family functions through the lens of family systems theory. Students will also explore the environmental effects and their influences on the family as a dynamic entity.

Credit Status
One credit in the Children's Mental Health.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain how family dynamics and development impact the behaviours of the infant, child and adolescent.
2. Identify the stages of growth and development as well as basic needs for infants, children and adolescents with an emphasis on the critical periods in personality development.
3. Identify family and social role structure issues and their potential positive and negative influence on growth and development.
4. To be able to define values (including culture, value orientation and value conflicts), norms and family rules and their significance relative to the development of perception and cognition. 
5. Identify the importance of human communication and parental attachment as well as the impact that family communication patterns and processes have on the development of infants, children and adolescents.
6. Examine the impact of power, authority and abuse on family and individual functioning and resilience.

7. Identify a variety of social determinants of health and the potential impact of a variety of environmental variables (poverty, satisfaction with housing/neighbourhood/community and mobility, access to basic necessities of daily    living, anxiety/conflict/tension).
8. Examine the impact that social systems such as families and schools can have on motivation, learning and behaviour and the development of maladaptive behaviour and compensatory mechanisms.
9. Be able to identify that patterns of behaviour, cognitive, emotional and physical symptoms that can lead to functional impairment and may put infants, children and adolescents at risk of developing a psychiatric disorders.
10. Will be able to identify common mental health conditions.

Cheating and Plagiarism



Accommodation for Students with Disabilities


Topic Outline
- Growth and Development
- Family and Social Role Structure
- Family Communication, Processes and Bonding
- Family Power Structure
- Social Determinants of Health
- Stress and coping adversity
- Pre-school problems
- Common Psychiatric Disorders
- School and peer factors
- Disruptive behavior
- Common Treatment Modalities

Prescribed Texts
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
by Robert Goodman and Stephen Scott, publisher: Wiley, ISBN# 978-1-1199-7968-5

Promotion Policy

Grading Policy
A+ 90%  to  100%
A 80%  to  89%
B+ 75%  to  79%
B 70%  to  74%
C+ 65%  to  69%
C 60%  to  64%
D+ 55%  to  59%
D 50%  to  54%
F 0%    to  49% (Not a Pass)
EXC Excellent
SAT Satisfactory
UNSAT Unsatisfactory


Modes of Evaluation

Assignment 1 20%
Assignment 2 30%
Weekly postings 20%
Online quiz 10%
Final Exam 20%

Approved by: Sandra Noble