Diagnosis Validity

Question 1

What evidence is there to suggest that diagnosis has a low criterion validity

Answer 1

Cheniaux et al’s study where he had 2 psychologists each diagnose 100 patients using either ICD or DSM. As a result, both psychologists dignosed more people with Schizophrenia using ICD than when they used DSM

Question 2

What is criterion validity

Answer 2

whether or not different assessment systems can arrive at the same diagnosis for the same patient

Question 3

What factors effect the validity of a diagnosis?

Answer 3

• gender bias
• symptom overlap
• co-morbidity

Question 4

What evidence is there to suggest that gender has a negative effect on validity?

Answer 4

According to Cotten et al women are more likely to function better (have a good relationship with their family and a stable job) therefore their symptoms may be masked by their interpersonal skills
According to Broverman et al suggests that the US criteria for mental healthiness was equated to male behaviour which makes women seem less mentally healthy

Question 5

What evidence is there to suggest that symptom overlap has a negative effect on diagnosis?

Answer 5

• both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have the negative symptoms of avolition and the positive symptoms hallusinations and delusions which means it’s easy to mix it up
• Ellason and Ross said that DID patients have more symptoms than those who have Schizophrenia

Question 6

What is co-morbidity?

Answer 6

the extent to which two conditions occur at the same time in a patient

Question 7

What evidence is there to suggest that co-morbidity has a negative affect on diagnosis?

Answer 7

Buckley et al says that 50% of Schizophrenics haven co-morbidity of depression and 47% have co-morbidity of substance abuse. This means that Schizophrenia can be diagnosed with the wrong psychotic disorder when they may be the same.

Question 8

What co-morbidity occurs in Schizophrenia?

Answer 8

• anxiety
• substance abuse
• depression
• OCD

Question 9

Explain Rosehan’s study.

Answer 9

• he sent 8 normal people into hospitals
• each claimed they had been experiencing auditory hallusinations of voices saying thud, hollow and empty
• 7 were diagnosed with Schizophrenia and 1 with Bipolar disorder using DSM-5
• in another situation he told the hospital that he planted psuedo patients ther, the hospital claimed 41 were planted, however they hadn’t planted any

this shows that DSM is invalid