maladaptive

Etymology

mal- + adaptive

adj

1. (psychology, chiefly of behaviour) Showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
   It seemed likely that in the apparently maladaptive responses of workers to computer-based technology (what many called “resistance to change”), it would be possible to trace a lineage of ordinary assumptions that referred back to the realities of the past and their points of disjuncture with the future. 1988, Shoshana Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine, New York: Basic Books, page xiv
   The learned helplessness explanation of sex differences in depression would be supported if it was shown that a greater degree of uncontrollability and a more maladaptive explanatory style in women account for any sex differences observed in depression in the sample. 1989, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, “Sex Differences in Unipolar Depression: Evidence and Theory”, in Jill M. Hooley, John M. Neale, Gerald C. Davison, editors, Readings in Abnormal Psychology, page 234
   An individual's functioning can be conceptualized on a continuum, with one end being more adaptive and healthy and the other end being more maladaptive and less healthy. 2013, Len Sperry, Behavioral Health: Integrating Individual and Family Interventions in the Treatment of Medical Conditions, page 21
   Some programmatic responses to power issues are more maladaptive for particular clients, such as women, because they affect their role expectations. 2013, Edith M. Freeman, Substance Abuse Intervention, Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Systems Change Strategies, page 44
2. (evolution, of anatomy, physiology, or behavior) Showing inadequate or counterproductive evolutionary adaptation to an environment or its changes.