Exam 1, Unit 2: Measures

Question 1

Comorbidity

Answer 1

Meeting criteria for more than one disorder
-50% ppl 1 disorder, have another
-Depression and anxiety often comorbid
-Checklist on DSM makes overlap easy

Question 2

Culture-Bound syndromes

Answer 2

Unique set of symptoms that appear only in a specific ethnic or racial groups
(ex: Attack of the nerves)

Question 3

Etiology

Answer 3

The cause of a psych. disorder

Question 4

Developmental & Cultural Factors Influencing Diagnosis

Answer 4

1- Symptoms can vary by age
2- Prevalence of disorders varies by sex
3- Symptoms/prevalence influenced by race/ethnicity

Question 5

Developmental & Cultural considerations– choosing assessment instrument/measure

Answer 5

1- Chronological age & developmental status
2- Cultural factors: educational background, language, cultural beliefs/values

Question 6

Harms of categorical diagnostic system

Answer 6

-Overgeneralizations –> different presentations
-Stereotyped conceptions of disorders (put in box)
-Labeling –> self fulfilling prophecy –> stigmas
-Variations of beh. can be over medicalized

Question 7

Dimensional Model– alternative to DSM

Answer 7

Symptoms of disorders are simply extreme variations of normal experience
PROS:
-Better description of difficulties across multiple areas
-Better understanding symptom doesn’t fit in category
-Allows them deal w those w diff. characteristics/values (homogeneity problem)

Question 8

Cons of Dimensional model of diagnosis

Answer 8

-Difficulty sharing and communicating info
-Disagreement on type and number of dimensions
-Categories easier for clinical decision making

Question 9

Clinical assessment

Answer 9

Gathering of info to make decisions about the nature, status, and treatment of patient’s psych. problems

Question 10

Steps of clinical assessment

Answer 10

1. Referral questions
2. Assessment procedures/measures
3. Integrate all data, develop preliminary answers

(think autism diagnosis process)

Question 11

Goals of clinical assessments

Answer 11

1. Screening– assessment process to predict risk future problems or ID ppl w potential disorders
2. Diagnosis and treatment planning
3. Outcome evaluation– measure treatment outcome

Question 12

Screening

Answer 12

Assessment process to predict the risk of future problems or ID those w/ potential psych. disorders

Question 13

Outcome evaluation

Answer 13

Examines patient’s treatment progress using multiple assessments regularly

Question 14

Clinical significance

Answer 14

Degree to which change in patient’s symptoms is meaningful

Question 15

Properties of assessment instruments

Answer 15

1. Standardization
2. Normative comparisons
3. Self-referent comparisons
4. Reliability
5. Validity

Question 16

Standardization

Answer 16

Evaluating scores so one can make (normative or self-reference) comparisons

Question 17

Normative comparisons

Answer 17

Comparing scores of sample representatives of population/subgroup

Question 18

Self-referent comparisons

Answer 18

Compare responses w/ prior performance

Question 19

Reliability

Answer 19

Consistency
-test-retest- consistency overtime
-inter-rater- consistancy across raters

Question 20

Validity

Answer 20

How well measures what supposed to measure
-Construct validity- how well measures construct
-Criterion validity- how well measure correlates w other measures
-predictive validity- ability to predict performance at future time

Question 21

Sensitivity of measure

Answer 21

Measure’s ability to identify a problem if it exists

Question 22

Specificity

Answer 22

Percent of time accurately identifies absence of a problem

Question 23

Features of useful screening measures

Answer 23

-specificity and sensitivity

Question 24

Clinical Interview

Answer 24

Conversation to gain more information about client throughout treatment, screening, or diagnostic process

Question 25

Unstructured Interviews

Answer 25

Clinicians determine which questions to ask and how to ask them
-Open/close-ended responses
-Pro: flexibility
-Con: possibly unreliable

Question 26

Structured Interviews

Answer 26

Clinicians ask standard set of questions
-Pro: More reliable
Con: Less flexible

Question 27

Semi-structured interview

Answer 27

Use unstructured questions after the standard questions

Question 28

Psychological test

Answer 28

Measure of hundreds of dimensions from personality to intelligence

Question 29

Personality test

Answer 29

Measure of personality characteristics

Question 30

Behavioral assessments

Answer 30

Measure that applies principles of learning to understand behavior & use direct observation

Question 31

Psychophysiological assessments

Answer 31

Measure of brain functioning and nervous system