Lesson 2: Conceptualizing psychopathology Flashcards
What is a correlate?
Something (X) that is linked or associated with an outcome (Y), but we don’t know if it causes Y.
What is a risk-factor?
A characteristic or condition that increases the likelihood of developing a problem like Y.
What are variable risk factors?
These are risk factors that can be changed (e.g., unhealthy diet).
What are fixed markers?
These are risk factors that cannot be changed (e.g., age or genetic traits).
What is a variable factor?
If changing X does not affect Y, X is just a marker, not a cause.
What is a causal risk factor?
If changing X does cause Y to change, X is a causal factor for Y.
What are the 4 risk factors and causes for psychopathology?
- Different types of causes
- Equifinality and multifinality
- Bidirectionality in explanations
- Diathesis-stress models
What is equifinality?
Different causes can lead to the same mental disorder
What is multifinality?
The same cause can lead to different outcomes in different people
What is bidirectionality in explanations?
Mental health issues and their causes can influence each other
What is the diathesis-stress model?
Some people are more vulnerable to mental disorders, but stress triggers them
What are the 3 different types of causes?
- Necessary cause
- Sufficient cause
- Contributory cause
What is a necessary cause?
X is a condition that must exist for a disorder Y to occur
What is a sufficient cause?
Condition X guarantees the occurrence of a disorder Y
What is a contributory cause?
X increases the probability for a disorder Y developing but is neither necessary nor sufficient for the disorder to occur
What are distal causal factors?
Causal factors occurring relatively early in life that may not show their effects for many years
What are proximal (immediate) risk factors?
Factors that operate shortly before occurrence of the disorder
What is reinforcing contributory cause?
A condition that maintains maladaptive behaviour that is occuring
What are the 2 models for diathesis-stress?
- Additive model
- Interactive model
What are protective factors?
Decrease the likelihood of negative outcomes among those at risk
What are the 6 key factors of stressors?
- Severity
- Chronicity
- Timing
- Degree of Impact
- Level of expectation
- Controllability
What are the 4 categories of biological factors?
- Genetic vulnerabilities
- Brain dysfunction and neural plasticity
- Neurotransmitter & hormonal abnormalities in brain and CNS
- Temperament
What does behaviour genetics study?
The heritability of mental disorders
What are the 3 primary methods used in behaviour genetics?
- Family history method
- Twin method
- Adoption method
What are shared environmental influences?
Make children in a family more similar, whether the influence occurs within the family or in the environment
What are non-shared environmental influences?
Those in which the children in a family differ
What is the developmental systems approach?
Acknowledges the genetics influences neural activity - which in turn influences behaviour - and that these influences are bidirectional
What 5 kinds of neurotransmitters have been most extensively studied in psychopathology?
- Norepinephrine
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Glutamate
- GABA
What is the HPA axis?
The body’s stress response system, involving
1. Hypothalamus
2. Pituitary gland
3. Adrenal glands
What are the 5 dimensions of temperament?
- Fearfulness
- Irritability
- Positive affect
- Activity level
- Effortful control
Temperamental characteristics are related to which 3 dimensions of adult personality?
- Neuroticism
- Extroversion
- Constraint
What are the 4 social and psychological perspectives?
- Psychodynamic
- Behavioural
- Cognitive-behavioural
- Social
What is the psychodynamic perspective?
Suggest that all behaviour, thoughts and emotions, whether normal or abnormal, are influenced to a large extent by unconscious processes
What is displacement?
Discharging pent-up feelings, often of hostility, on objects less dangerous than those arousing the feelings
What is fixation?
Attaching oneself in an unreasonable or exaggerated way to some person, or arresting emotional development on a childhood or adolescent level
What is projection?
Attributing one’s unacceptable motives or characteristics to others
What is rationalisation?
Using contrived explanations to conceal or disguise unworthy motives for one’s behaviour
What is reaction formation?
Preventing the awareness or expression of unacceptable desires by an exaggerated adoption of seemingly opposite behaviour
What is regression?
Retreating to an earlier developmental level involving less mature behaviour and responsibility
What is repression?
Preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering consciousness
What is sublimation>
Channelling negative emotions into something productive
What is the object-relations theory?
Some people see others in extreme terms (either all good or all bad) instead of seeing them as complex individuals
What is extinction in terms of classical conditioning?
When the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented alone and the conditioned response gradually extinguishes.
What are the 3 cultural concepts of distress?
- Cultural Syndromes
- Cultural idioms of distress
- Cultural explanations
What are cultural syndromes?
Clusters of clinical symptoms that often appear together within people from specific cultures
What are cultural idioms of distress?
Culture-specific ways of expressing distress to others
What are cultural explanations?
Different ways of explaining the causes of different symptoms or disorders
