Chapter 3: Diagnosis and Assessment Flashcards
What is diagnosis?
the determination that the set of symptoms or problems of a patient indicates a particular disorder
What is reliability?
the extent to which a test, measurement, or classification system produces the same scientific observation each time it is applied
What is inter-rater reliability?
the degree two which two independent observers agree on what they have observed
What is test-retest reliability?
the extent to which people being observed twice or taking the test twice receive similar scores (only works when we can assume that people won’t change considerably between test sessions)
What is alternate-form reliability?
the extent to which scores on two different forms of a test are consistent
What is internal consistency reliability?
assesses whether the items on a test are related to one another
What is validity?
internally, the extent to which results can be confidently attributed to the manipulation of the independent variable, and externally, the extent to which results can be generalized to other populations and settings
What is criterion validity?
considered in developing a test; assesses whether a test predicts related measures
What is content validity?
refers to whether a measure adequately samples the domain of interest
What is construct validity?
the extent to which scores or ratings on an assessment instrument relate to other variables or behaviors according to some theory or hypothesis (relevant when we want to interpret a test as a measure of a characteristic not observed directly - such as artistic ability)
What is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?
provides the major diagnostic guidelines for mental health syndromes in the United States
What is a syndrome?
a collection of certain symptoms
Who authored an influential early classification system?
Emil Kraepelin
What were the two major groups of severe psychological disorders proposed by Kraeplin?
dementia praecox and manic-depressive psychosis
What is the multiaxial system?
system used in DSM-III in which diagnoses were listed on separate dimensions/axes (not sued anymore)
What were the additions to DSM-5 to enhance cultural sensitivity?
- culture related issues are discussed in the text for almost all of the disorders
- a cultural formulation interview provides 16 questions clinicians can use to help understand how culture may be shaping the clinical presentation
- an appendix describes syndromes that appear in particular cultures, culturally specific ways of expressing distress, and cultural explanations about the causes of symptoms, illness, and distress
What are cultural concepts of distress?
psychological syndromes that have been observed in specific cultural groups; nine well-studied cultural concepts of distress descried in DSM-5
What is Dhat Syndrome?
a term used in India to refer to severe anxiety about the discharge of semen
What is Shenjing shuairuo?
syndrome commonly diagnosed in China characterized by weakness, mental fatigue, negative emotions, sleep problems
What is Taijin kyofusho?
fear that one could offend others through inappropriate eye contact, blushing, perceived body deformation, or body odor
What is Khyal cap?
observed in Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese cultural groups; includes dizziness, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and other indicators of intense anxiety and autonomic arousal
What is Ataque de nervios?
intense anxiety, anger, or grief; screaming or shouting uncontrollably, crying, trembling; most commonly observed among people from Latino cultures and usually preceded by acute life stressor
What is ghost sickness?
extreme preoccupation w/ death and those who have died; found among certain Native American tribes
What is Hikikomori?
observed in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, where an individual (usually adolescent or young adult male) shuts himself into room for a period of 6+months and does not socialize w/ anyone outside of room
What is resignation symptom?
interested Swedish symptom where children of refugee families denied asylum were mute, did not move, did not eat/drink - cases dwindled after Sweden changed asylum policies
What is the DSM-5 category “unspecified” used for?
when a person meets many but not all of the criteria for a diagnosis
What are some criticisms of the DSM-5?
- too many diagnoses (347)
- too many minute distinctions based on small differences in symptoms
- reliability in practice may be lower than that achieved in research studies
- has a categorical approach to diagnosis
What is comorbidity?
the co-occurrence of two disorders, as when a person has depression and social phobia
What is the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)?
long term project to develop new ways of classifying psychological disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological meausres
What is categorical classification?
an approach to assessment in which a person is or is not a member of a discrete grouping
What is a criticism of categorical classification?
they foster a false impression that psychological disorders have actual, hard boundaries
What is a dimensional diagnostic system?
describes the degree of an entity that is present (e.g., a 1-10 scale)
What should a valid diagnosis help predict?
course (time period of disease), etiology (causes/progress of a disease), treatment