PATHOLOGIZATION OF CHILDHOOD BEHAVIORS AND AFFECTIVE ABANDONMENT IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

Abstract

This study aims to analyze whether the pathologization of childhood behaviors can act as a mechanism for silencing psychological distress and whether it constitutes a new form of emotional abandonment. It is a qualitative study comprising a literature review on the transition from "child-as-object" to "child-as-subject," pathologization, and childhood psychological distress, alongside a integrative literature review on pathologization and medicalization in childhood. Search covered studies conducted between 2020 and 2026 using the keywords "pathologization in childhood," "medicalization in childhood," "emotional abandonment," and "symbolic abandonment." The analysis covered identification, methodological aspects, participants, research type, results, quality, and thematic issues, enabling a descriptive and thematic analysis aligned with the study's problem, objectives, and central focus. The literature review revealed that the pathologization and medicalization of childhood behaviors alter family, school, and institutional bonds by transforming distress into labels, diagnoses, and individual deficits, thereby producing forms of emotional and symbolic abandonment. Ultimately, diagnosis and medication emerge as quick-fix responses that replace the time dedicated to listening and adult engagement in relationships with children, erasing their narratives and undermining the possibility of psychologically processing their distress.