© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition by Gerald C. Davison and John M. Neale Lecture notes created by Paul J. Wellman, Texas A&M University PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation Chapter 3 Classification and Diagnosis Ch 3

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Diagnostic Systems Diagnostic systems assume that abnormality can be detected and classified by clusters of symptoms and signs –Each cluster is thought to reflect a different disorder –Each cluster may require a different treatment Ch 3.1

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e DSM-IV Classification System DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) is a revised diagnostic classification system created by the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV makes use of 5 distinct axes to classify a disorder DSM-IV was designed to more accurately classify psychiatric disorder (relative to earlier DSM versions) Ch 3.2

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Five Axes of DSM-IV AXISDESCRIPTION IAll categories except personality disorder and mental retardation IIPersonality disorders and mental retardation IIIGeneral medical conditions IVPsychosocial and environmental problems VCurrent level of functioning Ch 3.3

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Overview of DSM-IV Categories Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence –Involve early emotional/intellectual disorder Substance-related disorders –Ingestion of a drug impairs social/occupational functioning Schizophrenia –Involves faulty contact with reality –May involve delusions (disordered thoughts) Ch 3.4a

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Mood disorders –Involve large swings in emotional affect Anxiety disorders –Involve some form of irrational or overblown fear Somatoform disorders –Involve physical symptoms that have no known physiological cause Dissociative disorders –Involve a sudden alteration of consciousness that affects memory and identity Ch 3.4b

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Sexual/gender identity disorders –Involve dysfunction or discomfort with sexual function or identity Sleep disorders –Involve disturbance in amount of sleep or events during sleep Eating disorders –Involve under- or over-eating Factitious disorder –Involved in persons who produce or complain of psychological symptoms (sick role) Ch 3.4c

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Impulse control disorder –Involve several conditions in which a person’s behavior is inappropriate or out of control Personality disorders –Involve enduring, inflexible and maladaptive patterns of behavior and inner experience Other conditions that may be the focus of clinical attention Ch 3.4d

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Classification Critiques Classification systems do not always capture the uniqueness of a person Classification systems may emphasize trivial similarities between abnormal conditions Classification may result in a label that is harmful to the person Ch 3.5

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Classification Issues Categorical classification is when a system makes a yes/no decision as to the presence/absence of a disorder –Schizophrenic/not schizophrenic Dimensional classification involves ranking of a person along a quantitative dimension –Dimensional can include a cutoff point that will yield a categorical classification Ch 3.6

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Davison and Neale: Abnormal Psychology, 8e Assessment Issues Reliability refers to the extent to which a measurement system yields similar values with repeated measures of an object or entity –Interrater reliability examines the degree of agreement for two raters of the same object Construct validity evaluates the extent to which accurate predictions can be made about a category once it has been formed Ch 3.7

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