UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

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UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

• Assessment Methods in Psychopathology

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OVERVIEW

• Describe the major assessment tools used in
  clinical and research practice
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these
  tools
• Give a few specific examples

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AIMS OF ASSESSMENT

• Diagnosis
• Referral
• more assessment
• treatment elsewhere
• Treatment planning
• Treatment outcome assessment
• Research

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ASSESSMENT TOOLS

• Interviews
• Personality measures
• Intelligence measures
• Behavioral assessments
• Neuropsychological measures
• Neuroimaging techniques

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CHOICE OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS IS GUIDED BY...

• Theory
• Availability of an instrument to measure the
  construct in question
• Acceptability of the instrument to the person
• Ability or motivation of the person to provide
  the necessary information
• Time or cost considerations

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ASSESSMENT A PROCESS

• On-going activity
• Ideally multi-method, multi-informant

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DIAGNOSIS

• Symptom focused (state assessment)
• Trait focused (trait assessment)

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DIAGNOSIS

• Symptom focused interviews (state assessment)
• diagnostic symptoms
• overall clinical functioning

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DIAGNOSIS

• Symptom focused interviews (state assessment)
• diagnostic symptoms
• Patient Health Questionnaire (based originally on
  an interview)
• Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV
  Diagnoses (SCID)

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DIAGNOSIS

• Symptom focused interviews (state assessment)
• overall clinical functioning
• Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF)

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THREATS TO RELIABILITY

• Interviewer ratings
• inconsistent use of the instrument
• bias
• leading questions
• reinforcement of certain answers

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THREATS TO RELIABILITY

• Self-report
• memory loss
• biased recall (e.g., current symptoms may
  influence recall)
• denial
• exaggeration for secondary gain
• effort after meaning

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TRAIT ASSESSMENT PERSONALITY MEASURES

• Personality Inventories
• Projective Techniques

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PERSONALITY MEASURES

• Personality Inventories
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

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PERSONALITY MEASURES

• Projective Techniques
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
• Thematic Apperception Test
• Draw a Person
• Sentence completion

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RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST
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BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

• Involves the measurement of behaviors and
  environmental factors through direct observation
• Self-observation
• Other-observation

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GOALS OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

• Identification of behavior problems and of the
  contextual variables that are controlling or
  maintaining the behavior
• Evaluation of the relationship between the
  problem behaviors and the controlling variables
• Design of treatment plan and outcome evaluation

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NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS

• Bender-Gestalt Test
• Neuropsychological Batteries

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NEUROIMAGING

• CT Computerized Tomography
• PET Positron-Emission Tomography
• EEG Electroencephalogram
• ERP Event-Related Potential
• MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging