Lecture 2: Characterization, Classification, and Diagnosis of Psychopathology

What is a mental disorder?

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

What are typical inclusion criteria for mental disorders?

Distress and impairment (disability)

What are typical exclusion criteria for mental disorders?

Expectable or culturally approved responses to a common stressor; socially deviant behavior; and conflict between individual and society

What are the three specifications for diagnostic assessment in DSM-5?

Clinical diagnosis and medical conditions; psychosocial and contextual factors; disability

What does it mean for psychopathology to be categorical?"

What does it mean for psychopathology to be categorical?

Persons either have or do not have psychopathology (i.e., it is either present or absent)

What does it mean for psychopathology to be "continuous" or "dimensional?"

Psychopathology is a matter of degree (e.g., high, medium, or low)

What does "heterogeneity" of a mental disorder mean?

Variability of symptom profiles within a diagnosis

What does "comorbidity" of a mental disorder mean?

The co-occurrence of two or more mental disorders

TRUE or FALSE: About 50% of people will meet criteria for a mental disorder at some point in their life.

FALSE

TRUE or FALSE: Client distress and disability are exclusion criteria for diagnosis of a mental disorder.

FALSE

TRUE or FALSE: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has become more objective, reliable, and research-based over time.

TRUE

Does the research literature generally indicate that psychopathology is more categorical or continuous?

Continuous

Does the DSM-5 treat psychopathology as more categorical or continuous?

Categorical

TRUE or FALSE: The comorbidity of Major Depressive Disorder with Anxiety Disorders is substantial.

TRUE

What is the inter-rater reliability of a diagnosis?

The consistency of diagnostic judgments across raters or therapists