Prevalance rates

Question 1

prevalance rates issue

Answer 1

It is important to investigate patterns of disorders as
Hisotircally, lot os research from ameirca. Knowing that its not effective on all cultures can help improve treatment, and help a globalizing world
Better to move beyond assuming everyone can be treated in the same way
Changes over time and globalization can also affect prevalance rates

Prevalence rates are not simply statistical accounts of how many people suffer from a specific disorder. They also provide us with information about the nature of disorders. For example, we sometimes see that there is a difference in the prevalence rates of a disorder in men and women. We also see that different cultures have different levels of a disorder. Prevalence rates are also problematic because a diagnosis is not always reliable across cultures. Symptoms may be different for the same disorder in different cultures.

Question 2

Different prevalance rates

Answer 2

Point prevalance rates
The proportion of people in the population currently diagnosed wiht the disorder
Period prevalance rates
Proportion of people in population that had the disorder at some time during a given period. E.g the prevelance rate of ppl who have depression now to 12 months from now
Lifetime prevalance rate: proporition of ppl who have had depression at least once in their lifetime
Onset age
Average age people in a population first develop the disorder
Because of diff factors, there are diff prevalance rates for the same disorder depending on gender and culture
Diff in MMD (major depressive disorder) in diff contries
Lifetime prevalance higher in high income countries
1% in Czech Republic, 16.9% in the US
Diff could be due to:
Severity threshold: how bad do symptoms have to be before theyre considered depression
Diff in MMD in genders
Average 12 month prevalance was 6.7%
8.5% for women, and men at 4.7%.
Could be due to hormones, work related stressm caring for kids, abuse, and relationship strains

Question 3

diff in prevalance rates in women due to difficut to diagnose diff symptoms

Answer 3

Difficult to diagnose bc of diff symptoms
According to this hypothesis, men and women are equally susceptible to depression, but depression in men often takes the form of “acting out” behaviors instead of sadness, passivity, and crying, which are symptoms commonly included in self-report inventories. In particular, it has been suggested that the male equivalent of depression is alcoholism. Proponents of this argument point to statistics showing that twice as many men as women are diagnosed as alcoholics, and suggest that the rates of alcoholism in men make up for the absence of depression in men.
Theres evidence to show how depression is as likely a consequence as a cause of alcoholism in men.
Cadoret & Winnower (1974) report that in patients suffering from both depression and alcoholism, most of the men reported becoming depressed at least 10 years after the onset of alcoholism.
Findings could be particulary important as they aslo address the issue of alcoholism.
Alcoholism and depression can be considered two different maladaptive responses to difficult life circumstances. Societal restrictions against women drinking excessively may protect women who are vulnerable to alcoholism from developing the disorder. In summary, there apparently is little justification for dismissing the observed sex differences in depression as simply due to differences in men’s and women’s willingness to show the common symptoms of depression.

Question 4

Diff in prevalance rates reasons

Answer 4

1. levels of rumination
2. difficult to diagnose bc of symptoms (see cadoret and winnower)
3. bio reasons
4. Classification systems
   As each version is diff, this could cause diferences in diagnosis, bc list of symptoms are different
   E.g dsm 5, the bereavement exclusion (when a close loved one dies) for MDD was removed. This mightve led to higher estimates of prevalance rates
5. Clinical biases in diagnosis
   Prevalance rates would be affected by how consistnely psychiatrists can diagnose
   E,g some countries might exerience deressive symptoms, but be reluctant to report them (reporting bias)
   Bc it ight ve shameful, e.g in places like china/ india
   Prevalance rates based on no. of ppl that find psychological help and were diagnosed
   Furnham and Malik- British asians rarely diagnosed with depression
   Difference in how symptoms are reported
6. Expression of symptoms
   Differences in how ppl express symptos due to culture, gender age
   Study by Payne where caucasians and african americans discussed symptoms differently, but therapist is insensitive to these cultural differences
   Leads to bias and misdiagnosis
   If they were misdiagnosed bc of culture, the treatment wouldnt be as suitable
7. Somatization
   Lin carter and Kleinman

Question 5

bio reasons for diff in prevalance rates in women

Answer 5

It is widely believed that hormonal fluctuations strongly affect moods in women. Women are believed to be more prone to depression during the premenstrual period, the postpartum period, and menopause, each of which is characterized by changes in the levels of a number of hormones.
Kessler (2001) it was found that although the gender difference first emerges in puberty, other experiences related to changes in sex hormones (pregnancy, menopause, use of oral contraceptives, and use of hormone replacement therapy) do not significantly influence major depression.
BUT, The biological explanations of sex differences in depression, as a class of explanations, do not explain the absence of sex differences in certain subgroups, such as the Amish, university students, and bereaved persons. Sociocultural and psychological factors, such as the supportiveness of the Amish culture or the greater impact of a spouse's death on men than on women, more convincingly explain the variations across groups in sex differences in depression.