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Comprising two parts, Ed Zigler's developmental approach has greatly influenced how one conceptualizes children with intellectual disabilities (ID). In part one, Zigler championed a “two-group approach” concerning the cause of children's ID. He distinguished persons with a clear, organic cause of their ID from those displaying no clear cause. Members of this “organic” group often displayed IQs below 50 and co-occurring physical–medical conditions. The second, “cultural–familial” group, mostly showed IQs of 50–70, did not possess co-occurring physical or health problems, and often came from families of lower IQs and lower socioeconomic status. While the presence of these two groups has been supported, recent advances have also further differentiated the organic group, mostly in relation to behavioral phenotypes of persons with several genetic etiologies. In part two, Zigler championed the child with ID as a “whole person.” Originally focused on the child's reactions to social deprivation and failure, recent studies directly examine parent–child, within-family, and wider system interactions throughout the life span. For decades a force within the ID field, Zigler's developmental approach to children with ID continues to influence researchers, interventionists, and policymakers.

This paper proposes a model for developmental psychopathology that is informed by recent research suggestive of a single model of mental health disorder (the p factor) and seeks to integrate the role of the wider social and cultural environment into our model, which has previously been more narrowly focused on the role of the immediate caregiving context. Informed by recently emerging thinking on the social and culturally driven nature of human cognitive development, the ways in which humans are primed to learn and communicate culture, and a mentalizing perspective on the highly intersubjective nature of our capacity for affect regulation and social functioning, we set out a cultural-developmental approach to psychopathology.

Sensory processing abilities are highly variable within and across people diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined the transdiagnostic nature of sensory processing abilities, and their association with features of autism and ADHD, in a large sample of autistic people (n = 495) and people with ADHD (n = 461). Five similar data-driven sensory phenotypes characterized sensory processing abilities, and showed similar patterns of association with features of autism and ADHD, across both diagnostic groups. These results demonstrate the transdiagnostic nature of sensory processing abilities, while contributing to a growing body of literature that suggests the autism and ADHD diagnostic labels have poor explanatory power.

Interoception, the body’s perception of its own internal states, is thought to be altered in autism, though results of empirical studies have been inconsistent. The current study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the extant literature comparing interoceptive outcomes between autistic (AUT) and neurotypical (NT) individuals, determining which domains of interoception demonstrate robust between-group differences. A three-level Bayesian meta-analysis compared heartbeat counting performance, heartbeat discrimination performance, heartbeat counting confidence ratings, and self-reported interoceptive attention between AUT and NT groups (15 studies; nAUT = 467, nNT = 478). Autistic participants showed significantly reduced heartbeat counting performance [g = − 0.333, CrI95% (− 0.535, − 0.138)] and higher confidence in their heartbeat counting abilities [g = 0.430, CrI95% (0.123, 0.750)], but groups were equivalent on other meta-analyzed outcomes. Implications for future interoception research in autism are discussed.

As they grow up, children construct views of themselves and their place in the world, known as their self-concept. This topic has often been addressed by social psychologists (studying how the self-concept is influenced by social contexts) and developmental psychologists (studying how the self-concept changes over time). Yet, relatively little is known about the origins of the self-concept. This article calls for research that bridges social and developmental psychology to illuminate this important issue. Adopting such a social-developmental approach, the current special section shows that children construct their self-concept based on the social relationships they have, the feedback they receive, the social comparisons they make, and the cultural values they endorse. These findings underline the deeply social nature of self-development.

The work of Ed Zigler spans decades of research all singularly dedicated to using science to improve the lives of children facing different challenges. The focus of this article is on one of Zigler's numerous lines of work: advocating for the practice of mental age (MA) matching in empirical research, wherein groups of individuals are matched on the basis of developmental level, rather than chronological age. While MA matching practices represented a paradigm shift that provided the seeds from which the developmental approach to developmental disability sprouted, it is not without its own limits. Here, we examine and test the underlying assumption of linearity inherent in MA matching using three commonly used IQ measures. Results provide practical constraints of using MA matching, a solution which we hope refines future clinical and empirical practices, furthering Zigler's legacy of continued commitment to compassionate, meaningful, and rigorous science in the service of children.

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) is a major public health concern, and youth who engage in HED are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems that continue into adulthood. Importantly, there is heterogeneity in the onset and course of adolescent HED, as youth exhibit different trajectories of initiation and progression into heavy drinking. Much of what is known about the etiology of adolescent HED and alcohol-related problems that persist into adulthood comes from studies of predominantly White, middle-class youth. Because alcohol use and related problems vary by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, it is unclear whether previous findings are relevant for understanding developmental antecedents and distal consequences of adolescent HED for minoritized individuals. In the current study, we utilize a developmental psychopathology perspective to fill this gap in the literature. Using a racially and economically diverse cohort followed from adolescence well into adulthood, we apply group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to identify patterns of involvement in HED from age 14 to 17 years. We then investigate developmental antecedents of GBTM class membership, and alcohol-related distal outcomes in adulthood (∼ age 31 years) associated with GBTM class membership. Results highlight the importance of adolescent alcohol use in predicting future alcohol use in adulthood.

The aim of this study was to explore postgraduate psychology students’ development, as facilitated by the use of an interactive web-based simulation programme, My Virtual Child © . A social constructivist developmental approach, with specific focus on cognitive development towards self-authorship, served as the overarching framework for the study. Participants included postgraduate students enrolled in a developmental psychology module. Multiple sources of data, such as reflective exercises, summative portfolio assignments and a focus group, were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants indicated that the My Virtual Child© programme provided them with an excellent opportunity for authentic, relevant and challenging learning experiences, whilst balancing theory and practice. Furthermore, it provided room for deliberate reflective activities, group interaction and the integration of a diversity of experiences. This programme therefore created a practical and pragmatic teaching environment for more engaging and theoretically rich learning, preparing students for self-authorship in a complex world.

Sensory features are part of the diagnostic criteria for autism and include sensory hypo/hyper reactivity and unusual sensory interest; however, additional sensory differences, namely differences in sensory integration, have not been routinely explored. This study characterized sensory integration differences in a cohort of children (n = 93) with a confirmed diagnosis of autism (5–9 years) using a standardized, norm-referenced battery. Mean z scores, autism diagnostic scores, and IQ are reported. Participants showed substantial deficits in tactile perception, praxis, balance, visual perception, and visual-motor skills. Relationship with autism diagnostic test scores were weak or absent. Findings suggest additional sensory difficulties that are not typically assessed or considered when characterizing sensory features in autism. These data have implications for a greater understanding of the sensory features in the autism phenotype and the development of personalized treatments.

Sensory differences are highly prevalent in autistic individuals. However, few studies have compared their presentation between autistic males and autistic females. We used psychophysics to assess and compare tactile perceptual sensitivity between autistic and non-autistic boys and girls aged between 8 and 12 years of age. While there were sex-differences of amplitude discrimination, frequency discrimination and order judgement thresholds, these sex-differences were not autism-specific. Mean RTs and detection thresholds were elevated in autism but were comparable between the sexes. Tactile sensitivity measures that are elevated in autism but are otherwise comparable between autistic males and autistic females suggest the possibility that certain sensory features could be used as sex-indifferent markers of autism. Further investigation with larger and more representative samples should be conducted before any stronger conclusions are made.