scholarly journals An evolutionary life history approach to understanding mental health

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. e100113
Author(s):  
Wen Han ◽  
Bin-Bin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life History ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
History Approach

In recent years, evolutionary life history theory has been used as a heuristic framework to understand mental health. This article reviews the life history theory and its integration with mental disorders and then introduces representative research methods and related empirical studies in the field of evolutionary psychopathology. In the end, this article concludes with future directions for further research examining and developing the evolutionary psychopathological framework.

scholarly journals An integrative evolutionary framework for psychopathology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice ◽  
John D. Haltigan
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
History Approach ◽  
P Factor ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract The field of psychopathology is in a transformative phase, and is witnessing a renewed surge of interest in theoretical models of mental disorders. While many interesting proposals are competing for attention in the literature, they tend to focus narrowly on the proximate level of analysis and lack a broader understanding of biological function. In this paper, we present an integrative framework for mental disorders built on concepts from life history theory, and describe a taxonomy of mental disorders based on its principles, the fast–slow–defense model (FSD). The FSD integrates psychopathology with normative individual differences in personality and behavior, and allows researchers to draw principled distinctions between broad clusters of disorders, as well as identify functional subtypes within current diagnostic categories. Simulation work demonstrates that the model can explain the large-scale structure of comorbidity, including the apparent emergence of a general “p factor” of psychopathology. A life history approach also provides novel integrative insights into the role of environmental risk/protective factors and the developmental trajectories of various disorders.

scholarly journals An Integrative Evolutionary Framework for Psychopathology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice ◽  
John D. Haltigan
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
History Approach ◽  
P Factor ◽  
And Behavior

The field of psychopathology is in a transformative phase, and is witnessing a renewed surge of interest in theoretical models of mental disorders. While many interesting proposals are competing for attention in the literature, they tend to focus narrowly on the proximate level of analysis and lack a broader understanding of biological function. In this paper, we present an integrative framework for mental disorders built on concepts from life history theory, and describe a taxonomy of mental disorders based on its principles, the Fast-Slow-Defense model (FSD). The FSD integrates psychopathology with normative individual differences in personality and behavior, and allows researchers to draw principled distinctions between broad clusters of disorders, as well as identify functional subtypes within current diagnostic categories. Simulation work demonstrates that the model can explain the large-scale structure of comorbidity, including the apparent emergence of a general “p factor” of psychopathology. A life history approach also provides novel integrative insights into the role of environmental risk/protective factors and the developmental trajectories of various disorders. After describing the main features of the FSD model and illustrating its application to the classification of autism and schizophrenia, we juxtapose it with the recent Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). We highlight points of difference and similarity, and show how a functional approach helps resolve inconsistencies within a parsimonious account. The FSD model has great potential to further understanding of the development and expression of psychopathology across the lifespan.

scholarly journals Future Directions for Early Childhood Prevention of Mental Disorders: A Road Map to Mental Health, Earlier

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren S. Wakschlag ◽  
Megan Y. Roberts ◽  
Rachel M. Flynn ◽  
Justin D. Smith ◽  
Sheila Krogh-Jespersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Early Childhood Prevention

The effect of childhood unpredictability on co-parenting relationships during the transition to parenthood: A life history approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 2438-2458
Author(s):  
Ohad Szepsenwol
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Parental Behaviors ◽  
Childhood Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Environmental Unpredictability ◽  
History Approach

Recent extensions to life history theory posit that exposure to environmental unpredictability during childhood should forecast negative parental behaviors in adulthood. In the current research, this logic was extended to co-parental behaviors, which refer to how parents coordinate, share responsibility, and support each other’s parental efforts. The effects of early-life unpredictability on individual and dyadic co-parental functioning were examined in a sample of 109 families (two parents and their firstborn child) who were followed longitudinally from before the child’s birth until the age of two. Greater early-life unpredictability (family changes, residential changes, and parents’ occupational changes by age 8) experienced by mothers, but not fathers, predicted more negative co-parental behaviors in triadic observations 6 months post birth, and lower couple-reported co-parenting quality assessed 3, 9, 18, and 24 months post birth. These effects were not explained by parents’ childhood socioeconomic status or current relationship quality. These findings highlight the role of mothers in shaping co-parenting relationships and how these relationships might be influenced by mothers’ early-life experiences.

scholarly journals The nature and dynamics of world religions: a life-history approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1818) ◽  
pp. 20151593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Baumard ◽  
Coralie Chevallier
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Life Strategy ◽  
World Religions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Face ◽  
Diffusion Pattern ◽  
History Approach

In contrast with tribal and archaic religions, world religions are characterized by a unique emphasis on extended prosociality, restricted sociosexuality, delayed gratification and the belief that these specific behaviours are sanctioned by some kind of supernatural justice. Here, we draw on recent advances in life history theory to explain this pattern of seemingly unrelated features. Life history theory examines how organisms adaptively allocate resources in the face of trade-offs between different life-goals (e.g. growth versus reproduction, exploitation versus exploration) . In particular, recent studies have shown that individuals, including humans, adjust their life strategy to the environment through phenotypic plasticity: in a harsh environment, organisms tend to adopt a ‘fast' strategy, pursuing smaller but more certain benefits, while in more affluent environments, organisms tend to develop a ‘slow' strategy, aiming for larger but less certain benefits. Reviewing a range of recent research, we show that world religions are associated with a form of ‘slow' strategy. This framework explains both the promotion of ‘slow' behaviours such as altruism, self-regulation and monogamy in modern world religions, and the condemnation of ‘fast' behaviours such as selfishness, conspicuous sexuality and materialism. This ecological approach also explains the diffusion pattern of world religions: why they emerged late in human history (500–300 BCE), why they are currently in decline in the most affluent societies and why they persist in some places despite this overall decline.

scholarly journals Relationship of Prayer With Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 981-986
Author(s):  
Dadang Herdiansyah ◽  
Sri Ramadhan ◽  
Muhammad Farid ◽  
Andriyani Asmuni ◽  
Masyitoh Masyitoh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Good Mental Health ◽  
Relationship Of

The increase in the population in Indonesia experiencing mental disorders is getting sharper. In Islam, more worship will promote good mental health. This research uses library research methods. Based on the results of literature research shows that someone who always performs prayer can overcome the problems of life that are being experienced so tends to have good mental health. The implementation of worship in the context of Islam such as the implementation of prayers, remembrance, reading the Qur'an, and other worship, can be a way to get mental health.

scholarly journals Indigenous Australians’ Understandings Regarding Mental Health and Disorders

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valmae A. Ypinazar ◽  
Stephen A. Margolis ◽  
Melissa Haswell-Elkins ◽  
Komla Tsey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Treatment Pathways ◽  
Mental Health And Illness ◽  
Qualitative Empirical Research ◽  
Health And Illness

The purpose of the present paper was to determine what is currently documented about Indigenous Australians’ understandings of mental health and mental disorders through a meta-synthesis of peer-reviewed qualitative empirical research. The following databases were electronically searched (1995–April 2006): AOA-FT and AIATSIS, Blackwell Synergy, CINAHL and Pre CINHAL, Health source: nursing/academic edition, Medline, Proquest health and medical complete, PsycInfo, Science Direct, Synergy and Health InfoNet. Eligible studies were those written in English and published in peer-reviewed journals, empirical studies that considered Indigenous people's understandings of mental health and provided details on methodology. Five articles from four qualitative studies met these criteria. Meta-ethnography was used to identify common themes emerging from the original studies. Reciprocal translation was used to synthesize the findings to provide new interpretations extending beyond those presented in the original studies. An overarching theme emerged from the synthesis: the dynamic interconnectedness between the multi-factorial components of life circumstances. Reciprocal translations and synthesis regarding Indigenous understandings of mental health and illness resulted in five themes: (i) culture and spirituality; (ii) family and community kinships; (iii) historical, social and economic factors; (iv) fear and education; and (v) loss. The application of a meta-synthesis to these qualitative studies provided a deeper insight into Indigenous people's understandings of mental health and illness. The importance of understanding Indigenous descriptions and perceptions of mental health issues is crucial to enable two-way understandings between Indigenous people's constructs of wellness and Western biomedical diagnostic labels and treatment pathways for mental disorders and mental health problems.

Evolutionary Psychopathology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Diagnostic Categories ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Specific Disorders

This book presents a unified approach to evolutionary psychopathology, and advances an integrative framework for the analysis and classification of mental disorders based on the concepts of life history theory. The framework does not aim to replace existing evolutionary models of specific disorders—which are reviewed and critically discussed in the book—but to connect them in a broader perspective and explain the large-scale patterns of risk and comorbidity that characterize psychopathology. The life history framework permits a seamless integration of mental disorders with normative individual differences in personality and cognition, and offers new conceptual tools for the analysis of developmental, genetic, and neurobiological data. The concepts synthesized in the book are used to derive a new taxonomy of mental disorders, the fast-slow-defense (FSD) model. The FSD model is the first classification system explicitly based on evolutionary concepts, a biologically grounded alternative to transdiagnostic models based on empirical correlations between symptoms. The book reviews a wide range of common mental disorders, discusses their classification in the FSD model, and identifies functional subtypes within existing diagnostic categories.

scholarly journals The Psychometrics of the Mini-K

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491668203 ◽  
Author(s):  
George B. Richardson ◽  
Ching-Chen Chen ◽  
Chia-Liang Dai ◽  
Michael D. Brubaker ◽  
Joseph L. Nedelec
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Significant Cost ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Measure Validation ◽  
First Order ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
K Factor

Many published studies have employed the Mini-K to measure a single fast–slow life history dimension. However, the internal structure of the Mini-K has not been determined and it is not clear that a single higher order K-factor fits the data. It is also not clear that the Mini-K is measurement invariant across groups such as the sexes. To establish the construct validity of K as well as the broader usefulness of applying life history theory to humans, it is crucial that these psychometric issues are addressed as a part of measure validation efforts. Here we report on three studies that used latent variable modeling and data drawn from two college student samples ( ns = 361 and 300) to elucidate the psychometrics of the Mini-K. We found that (a) the Mini-K had a six dimensional first-order structure, (b) the K-factor provided a parsimonious explanation of the associations among the lower order factors at no significant cost to fit, (c) the Mini-K measured the same K-factor across the sexes, (d) K-factor means did not have the same meaning across the sexes and thus the first-order factors should be used in studies of mean sex differences, and finally, (e) the K-factor was only associated with environment and aspects of mating competition in females. Implications and future directions for life history research are discussed.

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