Exam 3 - Anxiety and Depression Flashcards
What is Major Depressive Disorder?
- 2 weeks of low mood
- crying, thoughts of death/suicide, low energy, disturbed sleep, appetite, stomach upset, reduced pleasure
- cognitive symptoms (concentration, reduced decision-making) THESE can precede onset.
What is the prevalence of MDD in children?
3-7%; more females than males.
Describe the neurobiology of depression and the neuropsych effects.
Frontal and temporal regions affected…think about the likely impact! (Rico Lee 2012).
EXEC
- decision-making
- verbal fluency
- attention
- planning/org
MEMORY (may be secondary to exec and organisation, may relate to concentration)
PROCESSING SPEED
Name some tools for assessing depression in children.
Self-report (Children’s Depression Scale; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Children). Interviews with parents and child etc.
Why is timing important in assessing depression?
+ consider effects of medications
Must wait until mood and medication is stable. Timing affects the validity.
Medications can have sedative effects need to factor in.
Why is it critical to get informant reports in depression?
Because the patients depression may lead them to have a negative view of the world and therefore provide particularly negatively biased reports.
In fact, sometimes Axs are to highlight the positives.
Why assess depression?
- discharge planning
- intervention
- differentiate perceived/’real’ deficits
- strengths and weaknesses (can sometimes highlight positive to the patient)
…form the basis of medical report for school adjustments etc
What are some compensatory strategies for depression?
NOTE: discretion matters in TEENS!!
Processing speed? Extra time (e.g., in exams, can apply to board of educations).
Executive and mood/motivation? structure and routine scheduled activities, smart goals
Memory? Memory aides e.g., mnemonics, connecting new w old, lits, apps with alarms, wall planner etc (using apps in youths)
++++
- extra support (teachers aide
- home school liason officer - improve attendance
- structure and warning about change
- use strengths e.g., verbal memory for CBT
- pathways program HSC extended over two-years
What about cog-training for depression?
Mild-mod effect sizes cog-training, but hard to measure real-world effects.
What are the cognitive deficits associated with generalised anxiety disorder?
- Similar to Depression, shared cognitive and neurobiological underpinnings to depression.
Exec, memory, processing speed + feeling overwhealmed
What are the cognitive deficits affected in OCD?
- set shifting
- impulse control
- processing speed
- memory, episodic
What are the cognitive deficits affected in PTSD?
Looks a little like ADHD - impulsive and poor sustained attention.
Exec
- mental flexibility
- abstract reasoning
- Verbal memory
- perseverating
- poor impulse control
- working memory
- attention
BUT, normal IQ and normal memory.
What are some tips for assessing a kid with anxiety?
- prepare them for ax w advanced notice about ax, what to expect, how the day runs (Social stories)
- the ax should not be the first meeting if possible
- structure the ax on paper, and use positive reinforcement (visual schedule, personalise and put their name on it)
- Plan to test routine, familiar/preferred tasks
- Make the use of a stopwatch less obvious.
What are some rehab stratergies for anxiety?
Similar to depression
- simplify info
- one instruction at a time
- structure and routine
- positive reinforcement for effort over performance
- stress reduction techniques (reachout.com, brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au, e-health moodgym)
- reduce workload, homework during school time
