Abnormal Psych. Exam 4 Flashcards
Personality
=enduring patterns of thinking and behavior that define the person and distinguish him or her from other people
-expressing emotion patterns of thinking about ourselves and other people
Personality disorder
=persistent pattern of emotions, cognitions, and behavior that results in enduring emotional distress for the person
-enduring, inflexible predispositions
-high comorbidity with other disorders
-generally poor prognosis
-patients don’t feel that treatment is necessary
Countertransference
the emotions of therapists brought out by clients
“Degree”
the problems of people with personality disorders may just be extreme versions of the problems many of us experience temporarily (ex: shy or suspicious)
Dimensional model
individuals are rated on the degree to which they exhibit various personality traits
Five factor model personality (“Big Five”)
-Openness to experience
imaginative, curious, and creative VS shallow and imperceptive
-Conscientiousness
organized, thourough, and reliable VS careless, negligent, and unreliable
-Extraversion
talkative, assertive, and active VS silent, passive, and reserved
-Agreeableness
kind, trusting, and warm VS hostile, selfish, and mistrustful
-Neuroticism
even-tempered VS nervous, moody, and temperamental
Advantages of a Dimensional Model
-retain more information about each individual
-more flexible (categorical AND dimensional differentiations)
-avoid arbitrary decisions involved in assigning a person to a diagnostic category
Categorical Model
“Kind”
Personality disorders that have traditionally been assigned as all-or-nothing categories
“Kind”; Categories
ways of relating that are different from psychologically healthy behavior
Categorical model: An individual’s personality pattern must
-deviate markedly from the expectations of his or her culture
-be pervasive and inflexible across situations
-be stable over time
-have an onset in adolescence or early adulthood
-lead to significant distress or functional impairment
Advantages and Disadvantages of Categorical Model
+Convenient
-Simple
leads clinicians to verify them (make more concrete/reel)
Example of Gender Category vs. Dimension
Category: male or female
Dimension: range between “masculine” and “feminine” expressions
Personality Disorder Clusters
Cluster A: Odd or Eccentric Disorders
Cluster B: Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic Disorders
Cluster C: Anxious or Fearful Disorders
Cluster A: Odd or Eccentric Disorders includes
Paranoid personality disorder
Schizoid personality disorder
Schizotypal personality disorder
Cluster B: Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic Disorders
Antisocial personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Histrionic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
Cluster C: Anxious or Fearful Disorders
Avoidant personality disorder
Dependent personality disorder
Obssessive-compulsive personality diosorder
Paranoid personality disorder
a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent
Schizoid personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings
Schizotypal personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort
Antisocial personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of diregard for and violation of the rights of others
Borderline personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, affects, and control
Histrionic personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of excessive emotion and attention seeking
Narcissistic personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and a lack of empathy
Avoidant personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivty to negative evaluation
Dependent personality disorder
a pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of, which leads to submissive and clinging behavior and fears of separation
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency
Gender distribution and gender bias in diagnosis
Men more often show traits like aggression and detachment; women more often show submission and insecurity
Antisocial- more often male
Histrionic & Borderline personality disorders
-equal numbers shown in most recent studies
-before it was slightly more common in women due to psychologists incorrectly diagnosing women (biased against females)
Dependent personality disorder- more often in females
Criterion gender bias
the criteria for the disorder may be biased
Assessment gender bias
the assessment measures and the way they are used may be biased
Comorbidity
condition in which a person has multiple diseases
Overview and clinical features of Cluster A: Paranoid Personality disorder
-pervasive and unjustified mistrust and suspicion
-few meaningful relationships
-behave aggressively or anatagonistically
-sensitive to criticism
-excessive need for autonomy
Causes of Cluster A: Paranoid Personality disorder
Genetic predisposition (related to schizophrenia spectrum of disorders)
Psychological factors may involve early learning that people and the world are dangerous or deceptive
-early mistreatment or traumatic childhood
-parents teaching careful of making mistakes and may impress on them that they are different from others
-vigilance=> focus on signs other people are deceptive and malicious
Cultural factors of experiences that lead to mistrust (ex: prisoners, refugees, older adults, etc.)
Treatment of Cluster A: Paranoid Personality disorder
Focuses on development of trust
Cognitive therapy to counter negativistic thinking
Unlikely to seek due to mistrust and difficulty developing trusting relationships necessary for successful therapy
Triggered by crises in life
Overview and clinical features of Cluster A: Schizoid personality disorder
Pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships
-social isolation
Very limited range of emotions in interpersonal situations
-limited experience and expression
Indifference to other people
Low interest to sexual experiences + romantic
-don’t desire or enjoy closeness with others
Causes of Cluster A: Schizoid personality disorder
Etiology is unclear
Brainstem inhibitory dysfunction
-more prevalence under fear and sadness
Childhood shyness
-precursor
-abuse & neglect also reported
May have significant overlap with autism spectrum disorder
-possible that a biological dysfunction found in both combines with early learning or early problems with interpersonal relationships to produce social deficits that define schizoid
Treatment for Cluster A: Schizoid personality disorder
Focus on the value of interpersonal relationships and on building empathy and social skills
-modeling, role-playing, and help identify a social network
Rare to request treatment except in response to a crisis
Role-playing
technique that helps patient practice establishing and maintaining social relationships; therapist plays as friend or significant other
Overview and clinical features of Cluster A: Schizotypal personality disorder
Behavior and beliefs odd & unusual
-psychotic-like symptoms, social deficits, sometimes cognitive impairment of paranoia; can’t see illogic to their ideas
Socially isolated and highly suspicious
Magical thinking, ideas of reference, and illusions
-ex: believing they are telepathic
Many meet criteria for major depression
Some conceptualize this as resembling a milder form of schizophrenia
Causes of Cluster A: Schizotypal personality disorder
Mild expression of “schizophrenia genes”?
-some focus as one phenotype of a schizophrenia genotype
-increased prevalence amongst relatives with Schizophrenia
May be more likely to develop after childhood maltreatment (among men) or trauma (PTSD symptoms among women), especially in men
-prospective research says tend to have extreme social anxiety, hypersensitivity, teased for oddness, peculiar thoughts & language
More generalized brain deficits may be present
Treatment for Cluster A: Schizotypal personality disorder
-high risk for major depressive disorder, unsual reason (or anxiety) to seek treatment and part of main treatment
Address comorbid depression
Main focus is combination of medication, cognitive behavior therapy, and social skills training
Overview and clinical features of Cluster B: Antisocial Personality disorder
Failure to comply with social norms
Violation of the rights of others
(ex: stealing from family/friends)
Irresponsible, impulsive, and deceitful
Lack of a conscience, empathy, and remorse
“Sociopathy”, “psychopathy” typically refers to very similar traits
May be very charming, interpersonally manipulative
Substance use disorder is common
Criteria
1-Glibness/superficial charm
2-Grandios sense of self-worth
3- pathological lying
4-Conning/manipulative
5-Lack of remorse or guilt
6-Callous/lack of empathy
“psychopathy”
non-DSM category similar to antisocial personality disorder but with less emphasis on overt behavior
-indicators: superficial charm, laack of remorse, and other personality characteristics
Conduct disorder
A separate diagnosis for children who engage in norm-violating behaviors
Childhood-onset VS. adolescent-onset types
“Callous-unemotional” type of conduct disorder is more likely to evolve into antisocial PD
Predominantly boys
Many become juvenile offenders and tend to be involved with drugs
Conduct disorder Childhood onset
=the onset of at least one criterion characteristic of CD prior to age 10
Conduct disorder Adolescent onset
=the absence of any criteria characteristic of CD prior to age 10
“callous-unemotional” type of CD
a young person presents in a way that suggests personality characteristics similar to an adult with psychopathy
Genetic and Neurobiological influences of Antisocial Personality disorder
Genetic influences
-more likely to develop antisocial behavior if parents have a history antisocial behavior or criminality
adopted offspring of felons had significantly higher rates of arrests, conviction, and antisocial personality disorder
-interaction between genetic predispositions and environmental influences
the adopted children of felons who themselves later become criminals had spent more time in orphanages than either the adopted children of felongs who didn’t becomecriminals and the adopted non-felon children
Neurobiological
-alternations influencing behavior may exist
-epigenetics
Arousal theory of Antisocial Personality disorder
Underarousal hypothesis-cortical arousal is too low
-primary cause of antisocial and risk-taking behaviors; seek stimulation to boost their chronically low levels
People with APD are chronically under-aroused and seek stimulation from the tupes of activities that would be too fearful or aversive for most
-found that the future criminals had lower skin conductance activity, lower heart rate during rest periods, and more slow-frequency brain wave activity=> low arousal
Impaired fear conditioning of Antisocial personality disorder
Fearlessness hypothesis- fail to respond to danger cues
Children who develop APD may not adequately learn to fear aversive consequences of negative actions (e.g. punishment for setting fires)
Grays model of Antisocial Personality disorder
Inhibition signals outweighted by reward signals
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) is responsible for slowing us down when faced with punishment
-Reward system: responsible for how we behave (approach to positive rewards; involved with pleasure pathway)
Behavior of psychopaths
-imbalance between both systems may make fear and anxiety produced by BIS less apparent and the positive feelings with the reward system more prominent
Psychological, social, and developmental influences
Psychological and social influences
-In reserch studies, psychopaths are less likely to give up when goal becomes unattainable- may explain why they persist with behavior (e.g. crime) that is punished
Developmental influences
-high-conflict childhood increases likelihood of APD in at-risk children
Treatment of Antisocial Personality Disorder
Few seek treatment on their own
Antisocial behavior is predictive of poor prognosis
Emphasis is placed on prevention and rehabilitation
Often incarceration is the only viable alternative
May need to focus on practical (or selfish) consequences (e.g., if you assault someone you’ll go to prison)
Most common treatment strategy for children involves parent training
-parents are taught to recognize behavior problems early and to use praise & privileges to reduce problem behavior and encourage prosocial behaviors
-factors placing families at risk for not suceeding-> cases with a high degree of family dysfunction, socioeconomic disadvantage, high family stress, a parent’s history of antisocial behavior, and severe conduct disorder on the part of the child
Overview and clinical features of Borderline Personality Disorder
Unstable moods and relationships
-dysfunction in the area of emotion is sometimes considered one of the love features & best predictor of suicide
Impulsivity, fear of abadonment, very poor self-image
Self-harm and suicidal gestures
-10% die by taking their own lives
Comorbidity rates are high with other mental disorders, particularly mood disorders, substance use disorders, and eating disorders (instability -> impulsivity)
Causes of Borderline Personality Disorder
Strong genetic component
High emotional reactivity may be inherited
May have impaired functioning of limbic system
-emotion regulation & dysfunctional serotonin neurotransmission
Hyperattentive to negative emotional stimuli in the environment
Early trauma/abuse increase risk
-significant particularly for girls/women (2-3x more likely to be sexually abused than boys)
Triple Vulnerability model for BOrderline Personality Disorder
Generalized biological vulnerability
-genetic vulnerability to emotional reactivity & ways it affects specific brain function
Generalized psychological vulnerability
-tend to view the world as threatening and react strongly to real & perceived threat
Specific psychological vulnerability
-early trauma/abuse
Treatment options of Borderline Personality Disorder
Antidepressant medications provide some short-term relief
Dialectical behavior therapy is most promising treatment
Dialectical behavior therapy
helping people cope with stressors that seem to trigger suicidal behaviors and other maladaptive responses
Focus on dual reality of acceptance of difficulties and need for change
Focus on interpersonal effectiveness
Focus on distress tolerance to decrease reckless/self-harming behavior (priority treatment)
Overview and clinical features of Histroinic Personality disorder
Overly dramatic and sensational
May be sexually provocative
-often care about looks
Often impulsive and need to be the center of attention
-vain, self-centered, and uncomfortable when not in spotlight
-constantly seek reassuance/approval constantly, and become upset/angry when others don’t attend/praise them
Thinking and emotions are perceived as shallow
More commonly diagnosed in females
-may lead to overdiagnosis in women due to fitting Western “Stereotypical female”
Causes of Histronic Personality Disorder
Etiology unknown due to lack of research
Often co-occurs with antisocial PPD, suggesting it may be a sex-typed variant
-women with the underlying condition may be predisposed to exhibit a predominantly histronic pattern, while an antisocial pattern for men
Overview and clinical features of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Exaggerated and unreasonable sense of self-importance
Preoccupation with receiving attention
-require & expect a great deal of special attention
Lack sensitivity and compassion for other people
-exploit others for their own interests and show little empathy
HIghly sensitive to criticism; envious and arrogant (when comforted with other successful people)
-often depressed since can’t live up to onw expectations
Grandiosity
Treatment options for Histrionic Personality Disorder
Focus on attention seeking and long-term negative consequences
Targets also include problematic interpersonal behaviors
Little evidence that treatment is effective
Grandiosity
exaggerated feelings and fantasies of greatness
Causes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Failure to learn empathy as a child=> remains in a self-centerd, grandiose stage of development
-endless & fruitless search for ideal person who will meet unfulfilled empathetic needs
Sociological view (LAsch)-product of the “me” generation (“baby boomers”)
Treatment of Narcissistic Personality disorder
Focus on grandiosity, lack of empathy, unrealistic thinking
Emphasize realistic goals and coping skills for dealing with criticism
Little evidence that treatment is effective
Overview and clinical features of Avoidant Personality Disorder
Extreme sensitivity to the opinions of others
Highly avoidant of most interpersonal relationships
-individuals who are asocial because apathetic, affectively flat, and relatively uninterested in interpersonal relationships
OR
-individuals who are asocial because interpersonally anxious and fearful of rejection
Interpersonally anxious and fearful of rejection
Low self-esteem
Causes of Avoidant Personality Disorder
May be linked to schizophrenia; occurs more often in relatives of people with schizophrenia
Experiences of early rejection
-difficult temperament=> parental rejection=> low self-esteem & social alientation
Childhood experiences of neglect, isolation, rejection, and conflcit with others
Treatment of Avoidant Personality Disorder
Similar to treatment for social phobia (Benzodiazapines or SSRIs)
Focus on social skills, entering anxiety-provoking situations
Good relaitonship with therapist is important (predictor of success)
Overview and clinical features of Dependent Personality Disorder
Reliance on others to make major and minor life decisions
Unreasonable fear of abandonment
Clingy and submissive in interpersonal relationships
-desire to obtain and maintain supportive & nurturing relationships
Sometimes agree with other people when their opinion differs so as not to be rejected
Feelings of inadequacy, sensitivity to criticsm, need for reassurance
-similar to avoidant personality disorder
(except they avoid instead of cling)
Causes and Treatment of Depedent Personality Disorders
Causes
-Not well understood but may be linked to failure to learn indepedence
-disruptions like death of a loved one or neglect or rejection could => fear of abandonment
Treatment options
-Therapy typically progresses gradually due to lack of independence
-careful of overdependence developing on therapist
Overview and clinical features of Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
Excessive and rigid fixation on doing things the right way
Highly perfectionistic, orderly, and emotionally shallow
Unwilling to delegate tasks because others will do them wrong
Difficulty with spontaneity
Often have interpersonal problems
-rigidity=> poor interpersonal relationships
Obsessions and compulsions are rare
-unlike for obsessive-compulsive disorder (type of anxiety disorder)
Often afraid that what they do will be adequate, so procastinate and excessively ruminate about important issues & minor details alike
One of the most common personality disorders in general population
Theory that many serial killers have this
-“masters of control” in manipulating their victims
-combo of disoder + unfortunate childhood experiences
Also, sex offeders and gifted children
Causes and Treatment on Obsessive-compulsive Personality disorder
Causes are not well-known
-moderate genetic contribution
Treatment
-targets include cognitive reappraisal techniques to reframe compulsive thoughts
-target rumination, procastination, and feelings of inadequacy
Schizophrenia
Characterized by a broad spectrum of cognitive and emotional dysfunctions including delusions and hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior, and inappropriate emotions
Distrupts daily functioning
Psychotic symptoms: the individual has lost touch with reality
“Split mind” reflects Eugen Bleur’s belief that all the usual behaviors shown was an associative splitting of the basic functions of personality
-inspired incorrect use of term to mean multiple personalities
What are the three types of symptoms of Schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms
Negative symptoms
Disorganized symptoms
Positive symptoms of Schizophrenia
symptoms around distorted reality
-including delusions and hallucinations
Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia
deficits in normal behavior
They involve the loss of certain qualities of the person
They may intitially be more subtle or difficult to recognize than positive
The strong presence is associated with poor outcome
Tend to be persistent and more difficult to treat
Improve over time
May affect approx. 60% of individuals with schizophrenia; many different types
Disorganized symptoms of Schizophrenia
rambling speech, erratic behavior, and inappropriate affect
-don’t easily fit into positive or negative type
-understudied
-disorganized speech
-erratic speech & emotions
-include giving irrelevant reponses to questions, expressive disconnected ideas, and using words in peculiar ways
-may relfect a disturbance in the thought patterns that govern verbal discourse
Diagnosis of Schizophrenia
=the presence of two or more positive, negative, or disorganized symptoms for at least 1 month
dimensional assessment of symptom severity
Catatonia
=alternating inmobility and excited agitation; unusual motor responses, particularly immobility or agitation, and odd mannerisms
Tends to be severe and quite rare
May be present in psychotic disorders or diagnosed alone and may include:
-stupor, mutism, maintaining the same pose for hours
-opposition or lack of response to instructions
-repetitive, meaningless motor behaviors
-mimicking others’ speech or movement
Now recognized by DSM-5 as a distinct schizophrenia spectrum disorder
Hebephrenia
silly and immatur emotionality
Paranoia
delusions of grandeur and persecution
Delusions
=beliefs that are highly unlikely
-often impossible; seen by most members of society as a misrepresentation of reality
-people tend to be preoccupied with delusions
-delusional patients express and defend their beliefs with utmost conviction
“disorder of content”
Delusion of grandeur
beliefs that one is a special being or possesses special powers
Delusions of persecution
beliefs that others watch or torment them
Delusions of thought insertion
beliefs that one’s thoughts are being controlled
Delusion of reference
beliefs that random events or comments by others are directed at the individual
Capgras syndrome
beliefs that someone they know has been replaced by an imposter
Cotard’s syndrome
beliefs that they are dead
Motivational theory (Delusions)
=delusions are coping mechanisms to alleviate stress and anxiety
-look at these beliefs as attempts to deal with and relieve anxiety & stress
-helps make sense of uncontrollable anxities
-distracts from upsetting aspects of the world
Deficit theory (delusions)
=delusions stem from brain dysfunction
-views these beliefs as resulting from brain dysfunction that creates these disordered cognition or perceptives