IB Psychology Treatment of Disorders: Revision Notes

Summary of Treatments

  • Key Studies

    • Biological Treatments of MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) & Phobias

    • Kroenke et al. (2001):

      • Participants: 79% completed 9-month treatment.
      • Improvement: Mean decrease of 15-17 points on MCSS.
      • Results: Depressive symptoms reduced from 74% at baseline to 32% at 3 months and 26% at 9 months.
      • Conclusion: SSRIs (paroxetine, fluoxetine, sertraline) are effective for MDD.

    • Liebowitz et al. (1998):

      • Treatment: MAOI phenelzine for social phobia.
      • Results: Participants showed significant improvement in anxiety and social phobia symptoms compared to placebo. Atenolol was ineffective.
      • Conclusion: Phenelzine is an effective treatment for social phobia.

    • Psychological Treatments of MDD & Phobias:

    • March et al. (2007):

      • Treatments: CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) & combination therapy.
      • Results: After 36 weeks, 81% in both antidepressant and CBT groups showed significant symptom improvement; 86% in the combined group.
      • Conclusion: Combination therapy is particularly effective for adolescents with MDD.

    • Vigerland et al. (2013):

      • Focus: Internet-delivered CBT for children.
      • Results: 35% of children no longer met criteria for specific phobia post-treatment, lower anxiety reported after 3 months.
      • Conclusion: Internet-delivered CBT is effective for treating specific phobias.

  • Role of Culture in Treatment of MDD & Phobias:

    • For MDD:
    • Hodge & Nadir (2008):
      • Findings: Strength-based and adapted CBT more suitable for Muslims.
      • Conclusion: CBT can be modified to align with Islamic principles for better effectiveness.
    • For Phobias:
    • Hinton et al. (2005):
      • Application of culturally-adapted CBT showed significant improvement in participants diagnosed with PTSD and GAD.
      • Findings: 12 patients no longer met PTSD criteria and 11 no longer met GAD criteria after treatment.
      • Conclusion: Culturally-adapted CBT is effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in diverse cultural contexts.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Treatments

  • Biological Treatments

    • SSRIs demonstrated significant improvements for MDD.
    • MAOIs showed effectiveness in treating social phobia.

  • Psychological Treatments

    • CBT is highly effective both alone and in combination with medications for treating MDD and phobias.

Exam Strategies

  • Command Terms: Understand and prepare for different exam command terms such as Evaluate, Discuss, Contrast, and To what extent. Each requires a specific manner of answering:

    • Use studies effectively to back up points made in your arguments.

  • Response Structure: Remember that all Paper 2 questions are ERQs worth 22 marks. They demand critical thinking and a rich discussion of the studies identified.

    • Choose your focus based on the question - treatments for MDD and/or phobias. You can contrast treatments between MDD and phobias or compare treatments within one category.