Epidemiology and Research Methods Flashcards
What is epidemiology?
The study of prevalence, distribution, and risk factors of psychological disorders within populations.
Define prevalence in the context of psychological disorders.
The percentage of people in a population who have a disorder at a specific time point.
What are the different types of prevalence measurements?
- Point prevalence
- Past-month/year prevalence
- Lifetime prevalence
What is incidence in epidemiology?
The percentage of people who develop a disorder for the first time during a given period.
What is a risk factor?
A correlate linked to a disorder’s occurrence or a predictor that contributes to disorder development.
What is etiology in psychology?
The scientific study of how something develops, focusing on underlying factors causing illness.
Explain equifinality.
Multiple different factors can lead to the same outcome.
What does multifinality mean?
A single cause can lead to multiple different outcomes.
Define final common pathway.
A theoretical mechanism where multiple causes converge on the same outcome.
What is the environmental model of mental disorders?
Mental disorders can develop due to environmental factors, particularly early life experiences.
What is the ‘Schizophrenogenic Mother’ hypothesis?
Suggests that inconsistent parenting from mothers could cause schizophrenia.
What are the implications of genetics in mental disorders?
- Genes are not deterministic
- Most genes are probabilistic
- Psychopathology is polygenic
What does the diathesis-stress model explain?
How mental disorders develop from an interaction between vulnerability and external stressors.
What is a vulnerability marker?
Helps identify individuals at risk for a disorder before its onset.
Differentiate between case-control and cohort studies.
- Case-Control Study: Compares those with a disorder to those without.
- Cohort Study: Follows a large sample over time.
What is the goal of family studies in genetic epidemiology?
To determine whether a disorder runs in families and assess patterns of inheritance.
What are the key findings from family studies?
- Many disorders run in families
- Subthreshold symptoms can exist
- Coaggregation of related disorders
What is the purpose of adoption studies?
To examine how genetic risk interacts with a low-risk environment for a disorder.
What is the ACE model in twin studies?
- A: Additive Genetic Effects
- C: Common Environment
- E: Unique Environment
What are gene-environment correlations (rGE)?
Interactions between genes and environments that influence individual traits.
Define passive rGE.
The environment shaped by the same people who provide the genes.
What is evocative rGE?
A person’s traits elicit specific responses from the environment.
Explain active rGE.
People actively select environments that match their genetic traits.
What is one limitation of twin studies?
MZ twins often share a placenta, creating a more similar prenatal environment than DZ twins.
