Abnormal Psych Flashcards
Diagnosis
the process of identifying and determining the nature of a disease or disorder by its signs and symptoms, through the use of assessment techniques (e.g., tests and examinations) and other available evidence.
Reliability of diagnosis
Whether two or more psychiatrists/psychologists using the same classification system make the same conclusion
Validity of diagnosis
Where the diagnosis is accurate and leads to a successful treatment
Inter-rater reliability
Diagnosis is considered reliable if it is consistent across clinicians, where different clinicians using the same classification system should come to the same conclusion for the patient.
This can either be done through the audio-video recording method, where one clinician conducts a recorded interview for another clinician to use and arrive at a diagnosis. It is good because both clinicians use the same stimulus (questions and patient’s answers).
Test-retest reliability
Test-retest reliability is a measure of the consistency of a psychological test or assessment. … Test-retest reliability is measured by administering a test twice at two different points in time. This type of reliability assumes that there will be no change in the quality or construct being measured.
Predictive validity
This is the degree to which a test accurately predicts a criterion that will occur in the future.
For example, a prediction may be made on the basis of a new intelligence test, that high scorers at age 12 will be more likely to obtain university degrees several years later. If the prediction is born out then the test has predictive validity
When individuals who have certain symptoms are unaware or unwilling to report it, the disorder appeared less prevalent in a population. People only report symptoms when they are willing or want to seek help.
Reporting bias
A tendency to experience and communicate psychological distress in the form of bodily and organic symptoms and to seek medical help for them.
It is the generation of physical symptoms of a psychiatric condition such as anxiety.
Somatization
There are different rates of symptoms and disorders across different cultural groups. This can be due to:
- genuine differences
- clinician biases
- altered behaviour of patient in the context
Expression of Symptoms
The inability to understand how particular matters might be viewed by people of a different culture because of rigid adherence to the views, attitudes, and values of one’s own culture
or
because the perspective of one’s own culture is sufficiently limiting to make it difficult to see alternatives.
Cultural Blindness
What is limited by or valid only within a particular culture intelligence tests are commonly culture-bound to some degree?
Culturally bound symptoms
To explain the cause of the disorder
Etiology
Types of this include biomedical, cognitive, individual or group
Treatment
How do we analyse the etiology of the disorder?
Through biological, cognitive and sociocultural factors
A statistical method concept in psychiatry, referring to the percentage within a population that has or does not
Prevalence
MDD - Major Depressive Disorder
- Affective and mood disorder
- 1/6 Australia
- Characterised by intense sadness, decreased cognitive functioning, consistent and ongoing over 2 weeks
Symptoms of MDD
- moodiness that is out of character
-increased irritability - hard to take minor criticisms
- spending less family or social time
- loss of interest in pleasurable activities
- trouble sleeping
- an increased risk or activity with alcohol and drug use
-avoidant behaviours - increased physical health complaints like fatigue or pain
being reckless or taking unnecessary risks
slowing down of thoughts and actions - worse cognitive clarity in terms of memory
Types of Etiology
Biological - genetic predisposition, ie. neurotransmitters
Cognitive - learned helplessness, (Seligman) negative cognitive triad- (Beck 1976)
Socio-cultural - life events, socio-economic seasonal variation, violence, social stressors
Role of Biological Etiology for MDD
Role of genes - genetic predisposition, an assumption that disorders have a genetic origin
- Parent connection: One parent 20-30% chance, two parents 70% chance
- Twin studies, if a disorder is inherited then concordance rates would be higher for MZ twins, McGuffin et al (1996),
- But studies conclude that MDD disorder was too complex and resulted from an interaction of both genetic and environmental factors
Another term for genetic predisposition
Genetic vulnerability
What is a GWAS study and why is it important for modern research?
GWAS stands for genome-wide association study, which is an observational study used to investigate the relationship of genetic variants and diseases/symptoms prevalent in a population.
One limitation of twins studies in studies on etiology of depression
Twins environment, relationship and upbringing is not necessarily representative of the general population, and twins, both fraternal and identical, are fairly rare in the general population
How do psychologists measure serotonin in the brain?
- cannot be directly measured
- there are indirect markers that can measure serotonin:
- Altering diet
- Post mortem (autopsy)
- Urine sample
- Spinal fluid
Why is the serotonin hypothesis not an adequate explanation for the origins of depression?
- cannot be measured directly
- no more gene can represent depression
- more factors apart from biological markers (serotonin) can influence depression
