Lecture 1 & 2

Question 1

What is epidemiology?

Answer 1

study of the prevalence of disorders in the population

Question 2

What is prevalence?

Answer 2

% (proportion) of individuals in the population with an existing condition. All current cases.

Question 3

What are the two common ways to measure prevalence?

Answer 3

point prevalence and lifetime prevalence.

Question 4

What is point prevalence?

Answer 4

% of youth with disorder X at a given point in time

e.g., The % of depressed individuals in the U.S. population on August 28, 2021

Question 5

What is lifetime prevalence?

Answer 5

% with disorder X at any point in their lifetime.

e.g., % of U.S. citizens who ever experience major depression

Question 6

What is incidence?

Answer 6

Number of NEW cases in a given time period. (usually much lower than prevalence.

Question 7

Why is it hard to determine the prevalence of a disorder?

Answer 7

You need; large representative samples (requires time and money), Accurate data (may be reduced due to participant confusion and or discomfort), reliable informant (discrepancies between child, parent, teacher info common).

Question 8

How are the issues in determining the prevalence of a disorder addressed?

Answer 8

Prevalence is often estimated by comparing findings across several independent studies.

Question 9

What are prevalence findings for children in the US?

Answer 9

13-15% of youth have a diagnosable mental disorder in any year
Over 11 million children in the U.S.
> 20% experience a disorder before adulthood

Question 10

What is co-morbidity?

Answer 10

Mental disorders often co-occur.

Question 11

What are the statistics on co-morbidity?

Answer 11

about 40% of teens with one disorder have a second disorder.

Question 12

What is the current trend of childhood psychological disorders?

Answer 12

Disorder rates are on the rise in youth, there is an increase in overall prevalence, hospitalizations, and med prescriptions.

Question 13

What factors influence the prevalence of childhood disorders?

Answer 13

Age, race, and gender (boys experience higher rates of autism, ADHD, disruptive behavior, substance use, while girls tend to experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders).

Question 14

What is SES?

Answer 14

Socioeconomic status. Parents’ levels of education,

parents’ employment, & family income.

Question 15

How does SES affect childhood psychology demographics?

Answer 15

There is a higher prevalence of disorders in children from; low-income families, parents of low educational attainment, single-parent families, high crime neighborhoods.

Question 16

How does race/ethnicity impact diagnosis?

Answer 16

Certain disorders are more commonly diagnosed in certain ethnic groups. For example, non-Latino white youth are more commonly diagnosed with ADHD and conduct problems in African American youth.

Question 17

What does treatment look like in youth?

Answer 17

Despite rates, only about half of children with mental health problems have, or will receive mental health treatment. This access is distributed unequally between SES, with higher SES children receiving higher quality, specialty treatment while lower SES children tend to receive treatment from public schools, human-service agencies, and the juvenile justice system.

Question 18

Where does treatment for youth with mental health issues most often come from?

Answer 18

School, followed by clinics, medical facilities, and then other agencies.

Question 19

How common is medication in youth with mental health issues?

Answer 19

About 7.5% of children and adolescents will take medication at some point, this figure has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

Question 20

What are some of the common barriers to treatment?

Answer 20

economic: financial hardships and affordability
Socio-cultural: Some ethnic minority families see MH treatment as ineffective, irrelevant, may seek help elsewhere, like church.
Access: To programs and trained providers
Stigma: negative beliefs about those with MH disorders

Question 21

What are a few approaches to defining what is “abnormal” in child psychology?

Answer 21

statistical deviancy, disability/degree of impairment, psychological distress, cultural deviancy, behavioral rigidity.

Question 22

How can statistical deviancy be used to define what is abnormal in child psychology?

Answer 22

An infrequency of certain emotions, cognitions, or behaviors. Diagnosis hen child is 2 SD above or below average children. problematic as it does not consider context, i.e., depression v. normal grief to an event, additionally disconformity is not always bad, and conformity is not always good.

Question 23

How can disability/ degree of impairment be used to define what is abnormal in psychology?

Answer 23

“Abnormality” = thoughts, feelings, or actions that interfere with social, academic, or occupational functioning, e.g. sadness at event is not depression until academic, social, or other performance cannot be maintained. problematic because MH problems don’t always manifest as overt impairment.