Readings: Main Ideas

Question 1

the promise by Mills

Answer 1

the sociological imagination involves taking into account the social context that individuals experience

Question 2

HSMH ch. 1

Answer 2

• sociological approaches view mental health & illness as aspects of social circumstances
• psychological vs. sociological research
• social integration, social stratification
• medicalization

Question 3

social stratification & inequality by McLeod

Answer 3

• social stratification is the unequal distribution is the unequal distribution of valued resources across social groups, which is motivated through institutional & interpersonal processes
• stress process model: stress exposure & coping are socially patterned

Question 4

the dictionary of disorder by Spiegel

Answer 4

the creators of the DSM had enormous power. it also had and continues to have reliability issues

Question 5

dropping the disorder in PTSD by Smith & Whooley

Answer 5

PTSD has become increasingly medicalized. We should drop the D to avoid pathologizing individuals

Question 6

50 years after the myth of mental illness by Szasz

Answer 6

there’s no such thing as mental illness; it’s the product of the medicalization of disturbing behaviours

Question 7

HSHM Ch. 2

Answer 7

• clinical vs. true prevalence of mental disorder
• specificity: when criteria are only satisfied by disorders, such that if the criteria are applied correctly, there are no false positives
• sensitivity: when criteria are satisfied by all disorders in the domain of interest, such that if the criteria are applied correctly, there are no false negatives

Question 8

HSMH Ch. 7

Answer 8

stress theory & structural strain theory

Question 9

HSHM Ch. 9

Answer 9

stress, distress, and contextual stressors

Question 10

Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease by Link & Phelan

Answer 10

fundamental cause theory

Question 11

HSHM Ch. 12

Answer 11

SES, conflict theory, functionalist theory, rigid vs. open class system, causation vs. selection/drift, life course theory

Question 12

those left behind by Dennis

Answer 12

• low education attainment & income are associated with greater depression & anxiety
• trauma mediated the relationship between SES & increased anxiety

Question 13

life course principles by George

Answer 13

importance of considering the interplay between social factors & illness, typically seeking to trace temporal pathways

Question 14

midlife by Carr

Answer 14

• didn’t find evidence of the U-shaped pattern in mental health
• midlife caregivers were more likely than non-caregivers to report depression, anxiety, and distress

Question 15

stress & mental health of populations of colour by Williams

Answer 15

• the association between race & mental health is complex
• Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians all have lower rates of psychological disorders than Whites. But, when they do experience mental illness, their episodes are more severe

Question 16

the mental health of immigrants and refugees by Ng & Zhang

Answer 16

• healthy immigrant effect
• immigrants from the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean have higher SRMH than Canadian-born respondents
• Immigrants from Asia and the Middle East had lower SRMH than Canadian-born respondents

Question 17

gender & mental health by Rosenfiled & Mouzon

Answer 17

• women tend to suffer from more internalizing disorders & men tend to suffer from more externalizing disorders
• the gender gap for internalizing problems is smaller for African Americans than Whites

Question 18

physical & mental Health Disparities at the Intersection of Sexual & minority Statuses by Stacey

Answer 18

• double disadvantage hypothesis
• people who are gender & sexual minorities report greater odds of depression

Question 19

the problem with the phrase women and minorities by Bowleg

Answer 19

the phrase women & minorities fail to consider that these categories intersect

Question 20

race/ethnicity, gender, and trajectories of depressive symptoms by Hargrove et al.

Answer 20

• women reported more depressive symptoms than same-race men
• Hispanics & Blacks showed more depressive symptoms than whites & asians
• Depressive symptoms increase in adolescence, decreased in young adulthood until midlife, then began increasing again for everyone except Hispanic women & Asian men