Abnormal Psychology

Major Depressive Disorder

Amenson and Lewinsohn

aim: discover the difference in prevailance rates between men and women

procedure:

• recruited through an announcement

• participants told they would be part of a study of “the understanding of psychological health and its relationship to what people do, think and feel”

• Assessed for depressive symptoms twice

  • asked to fill out a questionnaire (CES-D)

    • part of it measured intensity of depression

  • 8-9 months later they were interviewed

• Men and women divided into high, medium and low symptom level based on their CES-D scores

results:

• each group had similar mean scores

• when asked about how they labeled their own behavior and whether they sought help there was no difference between the genders

• self-labeling and clinical diagnoses were 81% in agreeance for females and 92% for male

evaluation:

• high ecological validity

• difficult to generalize finding (US participants were used - a culture that is individualistic)

  • lacks cross culture validity

Becker et al

aim: role of media on adolescent female body image

procedure:

• introduced t.v. to Fiji

• FIjian school girls were test ;

  • First group on 1995

  • 1998 group, 3-years later the study looked at girls between the ages of 16 & 18

• 1995 girls:

  • The girls were given an EAT-26 (test to determine eating attitude)

  • After survey, semi-structed interviews used to confirm test results if there was binging or purging behaviors

  • weight and height measured

• 1998 girls:

  • took EAT-26 test & interviewed

  • given additional questions about dieting practice, body image, and difference in generational values

Results:

• Significant difference in the EAT-26 scores

  • 12.7% compared to 29.2%

• 1998, the scores greated than 20 were correlated with dieting and self-induced vomiting

• 1995 didn’t report purging behaviors ; 1998, 11.3%

• self-reported binge eating didn’t change significantly

• in 1995, dieting was rare, by 1988 69% started dieting to lose weight

evaluation:

• high ecological validity

• not able to replicable

• self-reported data/ this was not a diagnoses

Brown and Harris

aim: to what extent do social and cultural factor play a role in depression in woman

procedure:

• women in south London surveyed on their daily life and depression

• they focused on important biographical details

• events rated in severity

Results:

• 8% were clinically depressed

  • 90% had expereiced an adverse life effect

  • 4 people didn’t have any adversity

• 30% of those who weren’t depressed suppered from an adversity

• Social class played a role

• working class women with kids were 4 times more likely to develop depression than middle-class women with kids

• 3 major factors affected the development of depression

  • protective factors: protect against the development of depression in spite of stress

  • vulnerability factors: increase the risk of depression in combination with stressful life

  • provoking agents: contribute to the stress

evaluation:

• semi-structured interviews increased reliability

• large sample size, results reliable

• self-reporting

Caspi et al

aim: to determine if there is evidence for a gene environment interaction for the mutation of 5-HTT

procedure:

• used New Zealand 26-year olds ; all memebrs of a cohort assessed for mental health every other year

• Divided into 3 groups based on their alleles

  • Group 1: 2 short alleles (has the mutation)

  • Group 2: One short one long

  • Group 3: 2 long alleles

• Asked to filled out a “Stressful life event” questionnaire which asked them about 14 different events (finance, employment, health, relationship etc)

• Assessed for depression

Results:

• people with one or more short alleles demonstrated more symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation in response to stressful life events

• having the gene wasen’t enough, life events had to trigger it

evaluation:

• correlational, no cause and effect

• self-reported data

• low reliability, people without the gene had depression

Diatheis stress theories

it predicts that an individual’s reaction to stressful life events depends on their genetic make-up

5 HTT

seretonin transporter gene

• involved in the reuptake of seretonin in brain synapses

parker et al

aim: determine the extent to which symptoms of MDD differed between Chinese and Australian patients

procedure:

• 50 Malaysian and 50 australian

• all were out-patients diagnosed with MDD, but who didn’t have other diagnoses

• given a questionnaire

  • set of mood and cognitive items (common if western diagnostic tools for depression)

  • set of somatic symptoms (commonly observed by Singaporean psychiatrists)

  • Questionnaire back translated

• judged the extent to which they had experienced the symptoms in the last week

• asked to rank the symptoms in order of distress

• through their psychatrists it was noted what the primary symptom that led them to seek help was

results:

• no significant difference int he number of somatic symptoms indicated by each group as being linked to depression

• chinese were less likely to identify cognitive or emotional symptoms as part of their problem

evaluation:

• imposed etic appraoch

• more research needed to be done to test reliability

biological aetiologies of one disorder

Caspi et al ; Amenson and Lewinsohn

MDD

cognitive aetiologies of one disorder

Alloy et al ; Joiner et al

depression

sociocultural aetiologies of one disorder

brown and Harris ; Parker

depression

prevalence rates and disorders

brown and Harris ; Becker

Approaches to research of aetiologies

Brown and Harris (Case Study) ; Caspi et al (Natural Experiment)

aetiology

the causes and progress of a disease or disorder

Alloy et al

aim: the role that one’s cognitive style plays in the development of depression

procedure:

• used non-depressed college freshman with no other diagnosed disorders

  • half of sample had a history of clinical depression

• students given a test to measure their cognitive style

• identified as high risk or low risk for depression

• researchers carried out follow-up assesments

• questionnaire and structured interviews to identify:

  • stressful life events

  • cognitive style

  • symptoms of depression

results:

• the group with no prior depression, 17% of the high rish developed MDD compared to 1% of low risk

• 29% of HR showed symptoms of minor depression compared to 6% of LR

• negative congnitive style played a role in both onset and relapse

• HR shower faster processing and better recall of negative information

evaluation:

• method and data triangulation, incrase credibility

• high level of reliablility

Joiner et al

aim: effects of dysfunctional thinking patterns on the development of depressive symptoms

procedure:

• 199 American university students, all taking abnormal psychology course

• assessed mid-term stress

  • students assessed 2 weeks before and after

• They were given 3 tests

  • Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale: measures thinking patterns such as vulnerability, need for approval, perfectionism and the need to impress

  • Cognitive Checklist: determine automatic thoughts linked to depression and to anxiety

  • Beck Depression Inventory: measure levels of symptoms linked to depression

Results:

• found an increase in BDI scores only in students who had higher DAS scores & failed an exam

• higher DAS scores and did well on test showed no increase in BDI score

• students with low DAS scores & did bad on test didn't experience depressive reactions

becks cognitive triad

describe how depressed adults tend to think about the world.

The triad refers to thoughts about self, world, and future.

In all the three instances, depressed individuals tend to have negative views.

genetic vulnerability

theory that some people may have the right genes for a disorder, but that may have not been turned on

prevalence

the proportion of a population found to have a disorder

reporting bias

selective revealing or suppression of information by clients when meeting a doctor

rumination

repeatively focusing on one’s symptoms of depression and the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms

Seretonin hypothesis

The idea that depression is the result of abnormalities in brain chemicals, particularly serotonin