Chapter 3 - Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis Flashcards
Clinical Assessment
The systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder.
Diagnosis
The process of determining whether the particular problem afflicting the individual meets all criteria for a psychological disorder, as set forth in the fifth edition of the DSM-5 (Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
Three basic concepts that help determine the value of the assessment
- Reliability
- Validity
- Standardization
Reliability
The degree to which a measurement is consistent.
**The diagnoses would be said to be unreliable because two or more “raters” did not agree on the conclusion. **
Interrater Validity
Psychologists carefully design their assessment devices and then conduct research on them to ensure that two or more raters will get the same answer.
Test-retest Reliability
If you go to the clinician on Tuesday and are told that you have an IQ of 110, you should expect a similar result if you retake the same test on Thursday.
Validity
Whether something measures what it is designed to measure - in this case, whether a technique assesses what it is supposed to.
Concurrent or Descriptive Validity
Comparing the results of an assessment measure under circumstances with the results of others that are better known allows you to begin to determine the validity of the first measure.
Standardization
The process by which a certain set of standards or norms is determined for a technique to make its use consistent across different measures.
Might apply to the procedures of testing, scoring, and evaluating data.
Mental Status Exam
Used by many clinicians to organize information obtained during an interview.
Mental Health Exam Covers
- Appearance and Behavior
- Thought Processes
- Mood and Affect
- Intellectual Functioning
- Sensorium
Appearance and Behavior
The clinician notes any overt physical behaviors, general appearance, posture, and facial expression.
Though Processes
Psychologist looks for:
- Rate of flow of speech
- Does the person talk quickly or slowly?
- Continuity of speech
- Loose association or derailment - the patient may not make sense when talking, or ideas are presented with no apparent connection
- Delusions - Distorted view of reality
a.) delusions of persecution - someone thinks people are after him or her
b.) delusions of grandeur - an individual thinks she or he is all-powerful in some way. Having an idea in reference in which everything and everyone somehow relates to the individual.
c.) Hallucinations - things a person sees or hears when those things aren’t really there.
Mood and Affect
The mood is the predominant feeling of the state of the individual.
Affect, by contrast, refers to the feeling state that accompanies what we say at a given point.
Intellectual Functioning
- Do they have a reasonable vocabulary?
- Can they talk in abstractions or metaphors?
- How is the person’s memory?
Sensorium
Refers to our general awareness of our surroundings.
*Does the individual know what the date is, what time it is, where she or he is, who he or she is, and who you are?
Unstructured Interview
Follow no systematic format.
Semistructured Interview
Made up of questions that have been carefully phrased and tested to elicit helpful information in a consistent manner so that clinicians can be sure they have inquired about the most important aspects of particular disorders.
Physical Examination
If a patient presenting with psychological problems has not had a physical exam in the past year, a clinician might recommend one.
Many problems presenting as behavior, cognition, or mood disorders may, on careful physical examination, have a clear relationship to a temporary toxic state.
The toxic state could be caused by bad food, the wrong amount or type of medication, or the onset of a medical condition.
Behavioral Assessment
It uses direct observation to formally assess an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior in specific situations or contexts.
The ABCs of Observation
a.) Ancedote (what happened before the behavior)
b.) Behavior
c.) Consequence (what happened afterward)
Informal Observation
Relies on the observer’s recollection, well as the interpretation, of the events.
Formal Observation
Involves identifying specific behaviors that are observable and measurable (called operational definition)
Operational Definition
It would be difficult for two people to agree on what “having an attitude” looks like. An operational definition, however, clarifies this behavior by specifying that this is “any time the boy does not comply with his mothers’s reasonable requests.”
Self-monitoring or Self-observation
People observe their own behavior to find patterns
Behavioral Rating Scale
A formal and structured way of observing behavior through checklists.
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale
Assesses 18 general areas of concern, each symptom rated on a 7-point scale from 0 (not present) to 6 (extremely severe.)