Gender & Psychopathology WK 4 Flashcards
According to Rutter, what are the 8 methodological issues in sex difference research?
- Representative of gen pop samples rather than clinical samples
- Data sources can be biased
- Difference in willingness to report
- Validity of dx criteria for a disorder is diff for males and females
- Symptoms used to assess certain disorders may be more characteristic of 1 sex
- Sex diffs may show diff symptom patterns but reflect the same underlying liability (e.g. alcoholism in males vs. depression in females)
- Sex diffs at lower end of distribution (IQ) maybe be the result of greater variability in males instead of increase in disorders
- Determine whether sex diffs in rates of disorder reach stat signif
According to Rutter, what 2 groups do sex difference in mental disorders fall into? Which sex has a higher prevalence for each category?
Early-onset neuropsychiatric disorders (male preponderance) and adolescent onset emotional disorders (female preponderance).
Which sex is antisocial personality disorder more prevalent in? When is the peak onset for antisocial personality disorder?
more prevalent in males, but early onset is more prevalent in males and adolescent onset is more prevalent in females.
According to Rutter, what are the 3 features associated w/a disorder that should be considered in research on sex differences?
1) Developmental profile (developmental profile of prevalence rates)
2) Rate of recurrence (chronicity & recurrence)
3) Comorbidity (and severity)
According to Rutter, why are developmental profile of prevalence rates important in sex diff research? give an example.
Important because change in sex diffs over age span demonstrates the need to determine causal mechanisms involved. eg. depression is non-existent in childhood, becomes marked in late adolescence, remains through early & mid-adult life, and diminishes in post-menopausal years. this could point to a hormonal component in depression.
According to Rutter, why is rate of recurrence and chronicity important in sex diff research? Give an example.
the extent to which there are (or aren’t) sex diffs in chronicity & recurrence will have implications for the types of mechanims that are likely to be operative. for ex. chronic CD (from early childhood to adulthood) has a M:F ratio of 10:1, whereas transient, adolescence limited CD has a M:F ratio of 2:1.
According to Rutter, why are comorbidity and severity important in sex diff research? give an example.
comorbidity has implications for research methods, clinical practice, etiology, and dx nosologies. e.g. autism has a marked male preponderance but it is the LEAST pronounced when the dx is accompanied by severe/profound mental retardation. and MOST pronounced when it occurs in people of normal nonverbal intelligence.
According to Rutter, what are examples of disorders that fall under the early-onset neuropsychiatric disorders category?
autism, developmental language disorders, ADHD, dyslexia
According to Rutter, what are examples of disorders that fall under the adolescent onset emotional disorders category?
depressive disorders, eating disorders (anorexia/bulimia)
According to Rutter, what are 6 reasons that sex diff research produces inconclusive results?
1) Studies that claim to demonstrate sex diffs are studies of just 1 sex w/speculations based on other research (w/diff samples) to draw inferences about what the sex diff may mean
2) Research that finds no sex diffs rarely mentions this in the study title, KW, or abstract, contributing to the impression that sex diffs are more common that sex similarities.
3) most studies have a limited range of stress factors, that are usually biased towards one sex.
4) Studies assume that if a risk factor signif predicts a disorder in one sex but not the other, this means that there is a signif diff btwn the sexes. however, it is necessary to test whether the correlations between risk factors and disorders for each gender are signif diff from each other. if you find that there is an interaction btwn the effects of sex and risk factor on the disorder, then you can conclude that sex does have an effect on the disorder.
5) few studies determine whether a stat assoc. reflects a causal process in the appropriate direction.
6) few studies test whether sex differences in exposure to risk factors account for finding sex diffs in a a particular disorder. i.e. few studies test whether the risk factor mediates the relationship between sex and disorder prevalence.
According to Rutter, what is Item Response Theory? What methods issue does it address?
by testing the correlation btwn each item score and the overall score, we can determine the strength of these relationships and eval whether certain questions aren’t valuable/applicable to a certain pop. this addresses sex biases in characterizations of symptoms used to assess particular disorders.
