The Developmental Psychopathology is the second edition of the previous volume titled Evolutionary Psychopathology – A Developmental Approach (2011). Like every subsequent edition, it aims to be an improved version of the first edition, both in structure and content.

This is achieved by satisfying two conditions: It retains the positive aspects of the previous edition and adds new ones, enriching the discussion of its topics to offer the reader a truly new work.

Specifically: (a) It places even greater emphasis on the innovative framework of the "five recurring themes," the pinnacle of which is the axiom: "Maladaptive behaviors are deviations from the normal course and are expressed on a continuum of severity." (b) It presents all known theoretical approaches, so that the reader has a complete picture of the possible causes of problematic behavior. (c) It fully utilizes the three available models for classifying maladaptive behavior, namely, the clinical, empirical/factorial, and educational models.

The two most significant changes this edition presents are: (a) the addition of new data from contemporary literature, which enriches our knowledge of child and adolescent psychopathology with findings from recent empirical and clinical studies, and (b) the adoption of the changes brought about by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in its latest edition (DSM-5). This change is the most emblematic new element of the manual and is evident in both its structure and content.

The most important changes include the creation of new diagnostic categories, changes in diagnostic criteria for certain disorders, and the addition of criteria for the diagnosis of disorders in adulthood or very early ages.