Chapters 1 And 3 Flashcards
Abnormal psychology
Concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and treatments of mental disorders
Family aggregation
Whether a disorder runs in families
Nomenclature
A naming system
Stigma
Disgrace
Stereotype
Automatic beliefs concerning other people that we unavoidably learn as a result of growing up in a particular culture
Epidemiology
The study of the distribution of diseases, disorders, or health-related behaviours in a given population.
Mental health epidemiology: study of distribution of mental disorders
Prevalence
Refers to the number of active cases in a population during any given period of time. Usually expressed as percentages.
Different types of prevalence estimates: point prevalence; 1-year prevalence; lifetime prevalence
Point prevalence
Refers to the estimated proportion of actual, active cases of a disorder in a given population at a given point in time
1-year prevalence
Covers a much larger time period than point prevalence, so usually figure is larger (ex count everyone who experienced depression at any point in time throughout an entire year). Would include people who had recovered before point prevalence assessment as well as those whose disorders didn’t begin until after point prevalence estimate
Lifetime prevalence
Estimate of number of people who have had a particular disorder at any time in their lives. Estimates tend to be higher because includes both currently ill and recovered individuals
Incidence
Refers to number of new cases that occur over a given period of time (typically one year). Tend to be lower than prevalence estimates because excludes pre-existing cases
Comorbidity
Term used to describe presence of 2 or more disorders in the same person. Especially high in people who have severe forms of mental disorders
DALY
Disability adjusted years of life. One DALY can be thought of as the loss of one year of otherwise “healthy” life
Outpatient treatment
Requires that a patient visit a mental health facility practitioner, but does not have to be admitted to hospital or stay there overnight
Acute
Short in duration
Chronic
Long in duration
Etiology
Causes of disorders
Case study
Detailed accounts of patients, anecdotal accounts. Info subject to bias because writer of case study selects what info to include and what info to omit. Material in case study often only relevant to individual being described (low generalizability). The conclusions we can draw are very narrow and may be mistaken. But good way to illustrate clinical material and provide limited support for theory or challenge to ideas. Can also serve as stimulus for research/new ideas/rare clinical conditions
Low Generalizability
Not able to draw conclusions about other cases even when those cases involve people with similar abnormality
Self-report data
May involve questionnaires and interviews. Limitations: can sometimes be misleading because people will lie, misinterpret the question, or desire to present themselves in favourable light
Observational approaches
When info is collected in way that does not involve asking people directly. Refers to careful scrutiny of conduct and manner of specific individuals. Ex: direct observation, collecting info about bio variables, brain imaging,
Hypothesis
Effort to explain, predict, or explore something. Frequently determines therapeutic approaches used to treat particular clinical problem
Sampling
Technique used to study people with disorders who fit a particular type of criteria. Try to select people who are representative of the much larger group of individuals to be studied. Want smaller sample to mirror larger group (underlying population) in all important ways (severity and duration of disorder and demographics). Ideally, our research sample would be randomly selected from the larger population of people with the disorder, which is important for ensuring that every person in that population would have an equal chance of being included in our study
Samples of convenience
When researchers study groups of people who are easily accessible to them and who are readily available (ex college students)