3.3 - Describe And Evaluate Merits Of Screening Measures

Question 0

What are the pros and cons of using diagnostic clinical interviews

Answer 0

Pros
Allow exploration of unique and holistic client factors
Can assist in the development of rapport
Can enable clinician to apply clinical judgement with questioning styles and content
May validate the clients experience as the story is heard
Flexibility of being structured or semistructured
Can be optimised by following processes consistently

Cons
Lacks standardisation and therefore compromise validity and reliability
Poor interrater reliability
At risk of effect of information processing bias
Therapists tend to stop looking when They found a diagnosis and this can be attributed to information variance

Question 1

What are the pros and cons of brief screening measures

Answer 1

Pros
Appropriate for use in primary care settings
Can lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses of mental health problems or disorders which likely leads to earlier referral and intervention
Can assist in the detection and diagnosis of mental health conditions
Can be used in treatment to quantify progress
Can address barriers to care for example difficulty verbally describing a problem

Cons
Literacy level required may exclude some clients
Ethnicity bias maybe present
May not suit all clients reporting style
Can take time

Question 2

List the pros and cons of structured interviews

Answer 2

Pros
Superior to unstructured interview is on diagnosis
Allows the standardisation
Better interrater reliability
Useful for diagnostic decision making

Cons
Inflexible
Can be problematic in the development of rapport
Information gained is limited to destruction questions which can be limiting
May overlook the holistic case conceptualisation by virtue of its prescriptive nature