Longitudional In Clinical Psychology Flashcards
Longitudinal research
what is it?
• longitudinal research involves studying the same participants over a long period of time documenting any changes that occur
• the development or time based changes can be seen through the pattern of measurements
• in mental health research clinicians make monitor changes in symptoms and the patient group undergoing a certain treatment
• measures may be symptoms expression and severity at certain intervals over a specific time period
• this can demonstrate any reduction in front of which could indicate treatment effectiveness
Longitudinal research
good to see dev of illness over time
• it’s the best way to see how a disorder develops
– the development of mental illnesses would be difficult to study without it
– if in a research you wanted to show how mental disorder affected someone’s functioning over a period of time it would make sense to follow the same individual
– which is why this is useful as it is on the same individual over period of time not on a group
Longitudinal research
issues with them
time and money
• longitudinal research however takes a lot of time and money
• therefore the time of researcher has for its, the lack of finance, and the lack of ways to keep participants in the study may become an issue
Longitudinal research
high val
control ppts variables and depth
• participant variables of controlled for as the same participants are used throughout the study meaning there are less extraneous variables affecting the conclusion improving the internal validity
– EG impact of act over time
– Same ppts, gender and such are controlled for
• longitudinal studies are in-depth and involve a range of research methods and there4 high in validity
– EG anorexia patients studied via a variety of methods such as Gathering data on weight gain, diagnostic interviews and more
– means there is rich in depth data on the patients that is internally valid
Longitudinal research
low int val
SDB, Demand Char, Researcher bias, Hol
• over the time of the study patients may form relationships with the researcher (holistic)
– especially as in clinical psychology the patients are part of a vulnerable group and therefore the relationship would be quite close and sensitive
– could lead researcher bias as they become two close to the patient
– or could lead to sdb as they try to display demand characteristics to try to meet the aims of the study to appease the researcher
– both of these results in cause and effect not being accurately established therefore longitudional research having low internal validity
Longitudinal research
low val and gen
• longitudinal research has a high drop out rate problem due to the commitment by the participants as it takes a very long time to do
– therefore some clinical patients may find it difficult remaining a study
– if too many Dropout it could affect the generalizable to findings to the population as it will be under represented
– have the similar characteristics it creates a validity issue as the sample is no longer representative of the target population
– for example those of more severe symptoms or drop out the research is left with a bias sample
– meaning both:
the research is not applicable to the population
and as it is no longer representative of the population it is no longer a valid Outlook on that area of research
so low Gen and Int Val
Longitudinal research
ethics low
Ethical issues are linked with participants committing and taking part for long periods of time
as a research becomes intrusive and could cause stress to the participants given their vulnerable nature of that group (vun group of patients) in a clinical study
so cause mental halm to ppts
Furthermore if consent is not repeatedly gained due to the longevity of the study
it would also become unethical
this is also linked with the need to remind them regularly of their right to withdraw
– if these are not considered then the longitudinal study will be considered unethical
– so unethical
Longitudinal research
invalid due to outdated
• depending on the length of the study the research could become outdated
clinical psychology is a fast-paced area of new ideas and treatments constantly being developed
if a study takes 10 years to complete and publish
then may have been so many changes and development
meaning the research is no longer Valid
Longitudinal research
example
A study of changes in the intelligence over adulthood
that examines intellectual abilities in the same 1500 individuals
each decade (L study)
from the Ages 50 to 80 years
Longitudinal research
example in clinical
harvey et al 1999
Looked at the cognitive decline in late life schizophrenia of 326 geriatric chronic long stay (hospital) schizophrenic patients
they showed cognative and functional impairments that were in declined post illness onset
the study lasted 30 months and the was two separate assessment of the patients
Cognitive and function of impairments (the dv)
was measured using the clinical dementia rating CDR
of those participants who had less severe scores at the start of study
30% had declined further by the second assessment
and only 7% of the sample with lower scores than originaly appeared to improve their functioning
several characteristics of patients based on assessment predicted increased risk for Cognitive and functioning decline
including: lower levels of education, old age, and more severe positive symptoms
Overall the did find several characteristics that predict an increase risk of Cognitive and functional decline in late life schizophrenia
However due to taking place over 30 months this is classed as a longitudinal study
Longitudinal research
cohort effect
low gen
• the cohort is the group of people being studied
• cohort effect
referred to factors relating to this group which may make them special in some way
– and therefore not entirely generalizable to similar groups
– who may be selected in a future replication of the study
• these factors cannot be controlled and therefore they would be a confounding variable
• classic coherd effects relate to things which happened only to that specific generation of children:
– war:
the impact of War is something that cannot be replicated in the future study
– certain styles of education initiatives that have gone out of fashion:
These cannot be replicated as this type of education is no longer in use
and participants would have their own type of education and
therefore was becomes a cohort affect
– economic recession:
This can effect a cohert in a way where it’s can’t be replicated in the future years
the effects of a recession on the original children may be different to that on future recessions
• in longitudinal studies cohort effect can affect the generalisability of the results
– it is possible that the finding and conclusions
– only apply to groups of people who have lived through the similar social and economic circumstances of the original participants
Therefore anyone who is not in the cohort that has been studied will not be able to have the results of the study generalised to them
so low gen
Longitudinal research
good rel
stand pro
• Longitudinal studies often have standardized procedures
– for example when you weigh anorexia patients over time
– when studying tep or drugs to see improvements in their weight gain
– at intervals of once per month
– would be classed as a standardized procedure for a longetudional study
therefore it is replicatable
and therefore it is reliable
Longitudinal research
low rel
drop out researcher affect stand pro
• If a researcher drops out or dies before the study is over
– the research usually changes in terms of how it is conducted breaking the standardized procedure
– for example due to a reduction in the number of researchers in an experiment the weekly way of anorexic patients may change between monthly weighing anorexia patients
– and therefore meaning it is no longer easily replicatable
– as the standardized procedure has changed halfway through the study
– giving it low reliability
Longitudinal research
application
Applications to the identification treatment to mental disorders
• the results of a longitudinal study can be used as early warning system
– for example being able to identify risk factors illness / disorder can be treated before it fully develops
– for example using antipsychotics on someone who may develop schizophrenia
• it can also be used to show what kinds of patients benefit from what kinds of treatment
– for example act May benefit someone with schizophrenia more than antipsychotics
– therefore longitudinal studies can have good applications to have the identification and development of mental disorders
Longitudinal research
hawthorne effect - int Val
The horthorne effect
– is a confounding variable
– where participants may work harder or have a better outcome
– due to the self-esteemed boost that comes with being monitored during a study
– for example an anorexia patient gaining or maintaining weight as a result of knowing they are being monitored in a study
– which increased their self-esteem to be able to do this
• this is a confounding variable as you cannot accurately establish the cause and effect effectively
– ( the cause of the weight gain may be even due to the treatment or the increased self esteem from being monitored in a study)
and is therefore innacurate
– therefore due to this confounding variable longitudinal research has low internal validity
