SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar / 2026 / Cilt: 18 Sayı: 4

Psychopathology from a Life History Theory Perspective: An Evolutionary and Developmental Review

Yaşam Tarihi Kuramı Perspektifinden Psikopatoloji: Evrimsel ve Gelişimsel Bir Derleme

Mustafa Gökmen Coşgun(İSTANBUL MEDENİYET ÜNİVERSİTESİ, EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-9040-1489
Pages
1442–1456
Publication Date
2026-03-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Consequently, the potential of the evolutionary perspective is emphasized in interpreting the function of symptoms in clinical practice, reducing patient stigmatization, and redefining the goal of therapy as improving the individual's perception of environmental safety rather than merely suppressing symptoms.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This comprehensive review reevaluates psychopathology within the framework of Life History Theory, which examines how organisms allocate their limited time and energy between somatic effort (growth and survival) and reproductive effort (mating and parenting).
📊
Key Findings & Data:The article first discusses how environmental harshness and unpredictability during early childhood shape individual life history strategies through developmental plasticity and differential susceptibility mechanisms.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Consequently, the potential of the evolutionary perspective is emphasized in interpreting the function of symptoms in clinical practice, reducing patient stigmatization, and redefining the goal of therapy as improving the individual's perception of environmental safety rather than merely suppressing symptoms.
🔬Design:Review & Systematic Survey
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Yaşam Öyküsü Kuramı · Evrimsel Psikopatoloji · Gelişimsel Plastisite

Abstract

This comprehensive review reevaluates psychopathology within the framework of Life History Theory, which examines how organisms allocate their limited time and energy between somatic effort (growth and survival) and reproductive effort (mating and parenting). The article first discusses how environmental harshness and unpredictability during early childhood shape individual life history strategies through developmental plasticity and differential susceptibility mechanisms. In this context, psychopathologies are examined along two main axes: the fast life spectrum, characterized by immediate gratification and risk-taking (externalizing problems, antisocial behaviors, borderline personality disorder), and the slow life spectrum, characterized by extreme caution, rule-bound behavior, and long-term investment (obsessive-compulsive traits and autistic traits). The question of why every strategy does not invariably turn into pathology is explained through expectation-environment mismatch and the general psychopathology factor (p-factor). Furthermore, as an alternative to toxic stress models, the hidden talents hypothesis is detailed, arguing that individuals growing up in stressful environments do not merely suffer cognitive impairment; rather, they can develop context-specific skills such as threat detection and mental set shifting. Consequently, the potential of the evolutionary perspective is emphasized in interpreting the function of symptoms in clinical practice, reducing patient stigmatization, and redefining the goal of therapy as improving the individual's perception of environmental safety rather than merely suppressing symptoms.

Özet

Bu kapsamlı derleme, organizmaların sınırlı zaman ve enerjilerini somatik çaba (büyüme ve hayatta kalma) ile üreme çabası (çiftleşme ve ebeveynlik) arasında nasıl paylaştırdığını inceleyen Yaşam Tarihi Kuramı çerçevesinde psikopatolojiyi yeniden değerlendirmektedir. Makalede öncelikle, erken çocukluk dönemindeki çevresel sertlik ve öngörülemezlik faktörlerinin gelişimsel plastisite ve ayırıcı duyarlılık mekanizmaları yoluyla bireylerin yaşam tarihi stratejilerini nasıl şekillendirdiği tartışılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda psikopatolojiler, anlık tatmin ve risk alma ile karakterize edilen hızlı yaşam spektrumu (dışsallaştırma sorunları, antisosyal davranışlar, sınırda kişilik bozukluğu) ve aşırı tedbirlilik, kuralcılık ve uzun vadeli yatırımla nitelendirilen yavaş yaşam spektrumu (obsesif-kompulsif özellikler ve otistik özellikler) olmak üzere iki ana eksende incelenmektedir. Her stratejinin neden her zaman patolojiye dönüşmediği ise beklenti-çevre uyumsuzluğu ve genel psikopatoloji faktörü (p faktörü) üzerinden açıklanmaktadır. Ayrıca toksik stres modellerine alternatif olarak gizli yetenekler hipotezi detaylandırılarak, stresli ortamlarda büyüyen bireylerin salt bir bilişsel yıkım yaşamadıkları; aksine, tehdit tespiti ve zihinsel esneklik gibi bağlama özgü beceriler geliştirebildikleri savunulmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, evrimsel bakış açısının klinik uygulamalarda semptomların işlevini anlamlandırma, hastaya yönelik damgalamayı azaltma ve terapi hedefini semptomları bastırmak yerine bireyin çevresel güvenlik algısını iyileştirmek olarak yeniden tanımlama potansiyeli vurgulanmaktadır.

🔖

Cite This Article

Coşgun, M. G. (2026). Psychopathology from a Life History Theory Perspective: An Evolutionary and Developmental Review. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 4, 1442–1456. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1882306

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (83)

  1. Amani N, Dehshiri G (2024) Adverse childhood experiences, symptoms of anxiety and depression in adulthood: mediation role of life history strategy. Biodemography Soc Biol, 69:137-148.
  2. Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Van Ijzendoorn MH (2011) Differential susceptibility to rearing environment depending on dopamine-related genes: new evidence and a meta-analysis. Dev Psychopathol, 23:39-52.
  3. Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Van Ijzendoorn MH (2015) The hidden efficacy of interventions: gene× environment experiments from a differential susceptibility perspective. Annu Rev Psychol, 66:381-409.
  4. Barbaro N, Boutwell BB, Barnes JC, Shackelford TK (2017) Genetic confounding of the relationship between father absence and age at menarche. Evol Hum Behav, 38:357-365.
  5. Bateson P, Gluckman P, Hanson M (2014) The biology of developmental plasticity and the predictive adaptive response hypothesis. J Physiol, 592:2357-2368.
  6. Belsky J (2012) The development of human reproductive strategies: progress and prospects. Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 21:310-316.
  7. Belsky J, Beaver KM (2011) Cumulative‐genetic plasticity, parenting and adolescent self‐regulation. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 52:619-626.
  8. Belsky J, Pluess M (2009) Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychol Bull, 135:885-908.
  9. Belsky J, Pluess M (2013) Beyond risk, resilience, and dysregulation: phenotypic plasticity and human development. Dev Psychopathol, 25:1243-1261.
  10. Belsky J, Steinberg L, Draper P (1991) Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: an evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Dev, 62:647-670.
  11. Bowlby J (1969) Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York, Basic Books.
  12. Boyer P, Liénard P (2006) Precaution systems and ritualized behavior. Behav Brain Sci, 29:635-650.
  13. Brüne M (2016) Borderline personality disorder: why ‘fast and furious’? Evol Med Public Health, 2016:52-66.
  14. Copping LT, Campbell A, Muncer S (2014) Psychometrics and life history strategy: the structure and validity of the High K Strategy Scale. Evol Psychol, 12:200-222.
  15. Crowell SE, Beauchaine TP, Linehan MM (2009) A biosocial developmental model of borderline personality: elaborating and extending Linehan’s theory. Psychol Bull, 135:495-510.
  16. Çetinkaya H, Dural S, Gülbetekin E (2010) Testing the concealed ovulation hypothesis in the framework of facial symmetry fluctuations moderated by menstrual cycle in women. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 25(66):17-20.
  17. Daly M, Wilson M (2005) Carpe diem: adaptation and devaluing the future. Q Rev Biol, 80:55-60.
  18. Del Giudice M (2014) An evolutionary life history framework for psychopathology. Psychol Inq, 25:261-300.
  19. Del Giudice M (2016) The life history model of psychopathology explains the structure of psychiatric disorders and the emergence of the p factor: a simulation study. Clin Psychol Sci, 4:299-311.
  20. Del Giudice M, Angeleri R, Brizio A, Elena MR (2010) The evolution of autistic-like and schizotypal traits: a sexual selection hypothesis. Front Psychol, 1:41.
  21. Del Giudice M, Ellis BJ, Shirtcliff EA (2011) The adaptive calibration model of stress responsivity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 35:1562-1592.
  22. Del Giudice M, Gangestad SW, Kaplan HS (2015) Life history theory and evolutionary psychology. In The Handbook Of Evolutionary Psychology, 2nd ed. (Ed DM Buss):88-114. New York, Wiley.
  23. Del Giudice M, Haltigan JD (2023) An integrative evolutionary framework for psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol, 35:1-11.
  24. Dural S, Cetinkaya H, Gülbetekin E (2015) Hemispheric specialization in the assessment of female physical attractiveness. Laterality, 20:232-248.
  25. Dural S, Karaşar A, Çetinkaya H (2010) The effect of derogation strategies used by females in intrasexual competition on males’ mate preferences. Turk Psikoloji Dergisi, 25:113-116.
  26. Ellis BJ (2004) Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: an integrated life history approach. Psychol Bull, 130:920-958.
  27. Ellis BJ, Bianchi J, Griskevicius V, Frankenhuis WE (2017) Beyond risk and protective factors: an adaptation-based approach to resilience. Perspect Psychol Sci, 12:561-587.
  28. Ellis BJ, Del Giudice M (2019) Developmental adaptation to stress: an evolutionary perspective. Annu Rev Psychol, 70:111-139.
  29. Ellis BJ, Del Giudice M, Dishion TJ, Figueredo AJ, Gray P, Griskevicius V et al. (2012) The evolutionary basis of risky adolescent behavior: implications for science, policy, and practice. Dev Psychol, 48:598-623.
  30. Ellis BJ, Figueredo AJ, Brumbach BH, Schlomer GL (2009) Fundamental dimensions of environmental risk: the impact of harsh versus unpredictable environments on the evolution and development of life history strategies. Hum Nat, 20:204-268.
  31. Figueredo AJ, Cabeza de Baca T, Woodley MA (2013) The measurement of human life history strategy. Pers Individ Dif, 55:251-255.
  32. Figueredo AJ, Garcia RA, Menke JM, Jacobs WJ, Gladden PR, Bianchi J et al. (2017) The K-SF-42: a new short form of the Arizona Life History Battery. Evol Psychol, 15:1474704916676276.
  33. Figueredo AJ, Rushton JP (2009) Evidence for shared genetic dominance between the general factor of personality, mental and physical health, and life history traits. Twin Res Hum Genet, 12:555-563.
  34. Figueredo AJ, Vásquez G, Brumbach BH, Schneider SM (2007) The K-factor, covitality, and personality: a psychometric test of life history theory. Hum Nat, 18:47-73.
  35. Figueredo AJ, Vásquez G, Brumbach BH, Schneider SM, Sefcek JA, Tal IR et al. (2006) Consilience and life history theory: from genes to brain to reproductive strategy. Dev Rev, 26:243-275.
  36. Figueredo AJ, Vásquez G, Brumbach BH, Sefcek JA, Kirsner BR, Jacobs WJ (2005) The K-factor: individual differences in life history strategy. Pers Individ Dif, 39:1349-1360.
  37. Frankenhuis WE, De Weerth C (2013) Does early-life exposure to stress shape or impair cognition? Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 22:407-412.
  38. Frankenhuis WE, Del Giudice M (2012) When do adaptive developmental mechanisms yield maladaptive outcomes? Dev Psychol, 48:628-642.
  39. Frankenhuis WE, Panchanathan K, Nettle D (2016) Cognition in harsh and unpredictable environments. Curr Opin Psychol, 7:76-80.
  40. Glenn AL, Kurzban R, Raine A (2011) Evolutionary theory and psychopathy. Aggress Violent Behav, 16:371-380.
  41. Gunderson JG, Lyons-Ruth K (2008) SKB’s interpersonal hypersensitivity phenotype: a gene-environment-developmental model. J Pers Disord, 22:22-41.
  42. Hurst JE, Kavanagh PS (2017) Life history strategies and psychopathology: the faster the life strategies, the more symptoms of psychopathology. Evol Hum Behav, 38:1-8.
  43. James J, Ellis BJ, Schlomer GL, Garber J (2012) Sex-specific pathways to early puberty, sexual debut, and sexual risk taking: tests of an integrated evolutionary-developmental model. Dev Psychol, 48:687-702.
  44. Kahl BL, Kavanagh PS, Gleaves DH (2022a) Testing a life history model of psychopathology: a replication and extension. Curr Psychol, 41:6233-6246.
  45. Kahl BL, Kavanagh PS, Gleaves DH (2022b) Extending a life history model of psychopathology: expectations and schemas as potential mechanisms. Evol Psychol Sci, 8:158-173.
  46. Kavanagh PS, Kahl BL (2018) Are expectations the missing link between life history strategies and psychopathology? Front Psychol, 9:89.
  47. Kennair LEO (2003) Evolutionary psychology and psychopathology. Curr Opin Psychiatry, 16:691-699.
  48. Kennair LEO (2014) Evolutionary psychopathology and life history: a clinician's perspective. Psychol Inq, 25:346-351.
  49. Kidd C, Palmeri H, Aslin RN (2013) Rational snacking: young children’s decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability. Cognition, 126:109-114.
  50. Lee HJ, Kwon SM (2003) Two different types of obsession: autogenous obsessions and reactive obsessions. Behav Res Ther, 41:11-29.
  51. Loomes R, Hull L, Mandy WPL (2017) What is the male-to-female ratio in autism spectrum disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 56:466-474.
  52. Maranges HM, Hasty CR, Martinez JL, Maner JK (2022) Adaptive calibration in early development: brief measures of perceived childhood harshness and unpredictability. Adapt Hum Behav Physiol, 8:313-343.
  53. Martel MM (2013) Sexual selection and sex differences in the prevalence of childhood externalizing and adolescent internalizing disorders. Psychol Bull, 139:1221-1259.
  54. Mealey L (1995) The sociobiology of sociopathy: an integrated evolutionary model. Behav Brain Sci, 18:523-541.
  55. Mendle J, Turkheimer E, D'Onofrio BM, Lynch SK, Emery RE, Slutske WS et al. (2006) Family structure and age at menarche: a children-of-twins approach. Dev Psychol, 42:533-542.
  56. Metin C, Teközel M (2024) Elephant on the dance floor: revealing the significance of dancers’ sex in coalition quality assessments. Evol Psychol Sci, 10:89-99.
  57. Mittal C, Griskevicius V (2014) Sense of control under uncertainty depends on people’s childhood environment: a life history theory approach. J Pers Soc Psychol, 107:621-637.
  58. Mittal C, Griskevicius V, Simpson JA, Sung S, Young ES (2015) Cognitive adaptations to stressful environments: when childhood adversity enhances adult executive function. J Pers Soc Psychol, 109:604-621.
  59. Nesse RM (2004) Cliff-edged fitness functions and the persistence of schizophrenia. Behav Brain Sci, 27:862-863.
  60. Nettle D, Frankenhuis WE (2019) The evolution of life-history theory: a bibliometric analysis of an interdisciplinary research area. Proc R Soc B, 286:20190040.
  61. Otto B, Kokkelink L, Brüne M (2021) Borderline personality disorder and life history strategy. Front Psychol, 12:715153.
  62. Pianka ER (1970) On r- and K-selection. Am Nat, 104:592-597.
  63. Pollak SD (2008) Mechanisms linking early experience and the emergence of emotions: illustrations from the study of maltreated children. Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 17:370-375.
  64. Rengiiyiler S, Teközel M (2025) Visual attention is not attuned to non-human animal targets’ pathogenicity: an evolutionary mismatch perspective. J Gen Psychol, 152:36-57.
  65. Richardson GB, Chen CC, Dai CL, Brubaker MD, Nedelec JL (2017) The psychometrics of the Mini-K. Evol Psychol, 15:1474704916682034.
  66. Roff DA (2002) Life History Evolution. Sunderland, MA, Sinauer Associates.
  67. Sear R (2020) Do human ‘life history strategies’ exist? Evol Hum Behav, 41:513-526.
  68. Shaner A, Miller G, Mintz J (2008) Autism as the low-fitness extreme of a parentally selected fitness indicator. Hum Nat, 19:389-413.
  69. Sherman RA, Figueredo AJ, Funder DC (2013) The behavioral correlates of overall and distinctive life history strategies. J Pers Soc Psychol, 105:873-888.
  70. Shonkoff JP, Garner AS (2012) Committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health; committee on early childhood, adoption, and dependent care; section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics the lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129:e232-e246.
  71. Stearns SC (1992) The Evolution Of Life Histories. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
  72. Teicher MH, Andersen SL, Polcari A, Anderson CM, Navalta CP, Kim DM (2003) The neurobiological consequences of early stress and childhood maltreatment. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 27:33-44.
  73. Trivers RL (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In Sexual Selection and The Descent of Man 1871-1971 (Ed B Campbell):136-179. Chicago, Aldine.
  74. Wakefield JC (1992) The concept of mental disorder: on the boundary between biological facts and social values. Am Psychol, 47:373-388.
  75. Werling DM, Geschwind DH (2013) Sex differences in autism spectrum disorders. Curr Opin Neurol, 26:146-153.
  76. West-Eberhard MJ (2003) Developmental Plasticity and Evolution. New York, Oxford University Press.
  77. Yeo RA, Pommy J, Padilla EA (2014) Strategic choices versus maladaptive development. Psychol Inq, 25:389-393.
  78. Yildirim B, Kurdoglu P, Kapucu A, Teközel M (2022) Is there an infidelity-based reproductive processing advantage in adaptive memory? Effects of survival processing and jealousy processing on recall performance. J Cogn Psychol, 34:962-976.
  79. Yilmaz O, Bahçekapili HG (2016) Supernatural and secular monitors promote human cooperation only if they remind of punishment. Evol Hum Behav, 37:79-84.
  80. Young ES, Frankenhuis WE, Ellis BJ (2020) Theory and measurement of environmental unpredictability. Evol Hum Behav, 41:550-556.
  81. Young ES, Griskevicius V, Simpson JA, Waters TE, Mittal C (2018) Can an unpredictable childhood environment enhance working memory? Testing the sensitized-specialization hypothesis. J Pers Soc Psychol, 114:891-908.
  82. Zietsch BP, Sidari MJ (2020) A critique of life history approaches to human trait covariation. Evol Hum Behav, 41:527-535.
  83. Zuckerman M (1999) Vulnerability To Psychopathology: A Biosocial Model. Washington DC, American Psychological Association.