Taxonomies of Child and Adolescent Developmental Psychopathology
Kee Jeong Kim, Ph.D.

Abstract
Adolescence is the period of critical transition. Children entering adolescence go through a wide range of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes. The storm-and-stress portrayal of adolescence seems to emphasize the problems that some individuals exhibit. Identifying normative and nonnormative behaviors of youth helps demystify the long-endured stereotype of the transitional phase. This paper reviews taxonomic theories of the age-graded child and adolescent psychopathology. This article then summarizes research evidence for (1) stability in impulsivity as one of the main factors describing nonnormative behaviors and (2) the maturation gap in various parts of the brain development during adolescence as an explanation for normative adolescent risk-taking tendencies.

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