PSYB32H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Acute Stress Reaction, Inter-Rater Reliability, Multiple Sclerosis
Document Summary
In gathering diagnosis and assessment information, clinicians and researchers must be concerned with both reliability and validity. Reliability refers to whether measurements are consistent and replicable; validity refers to whether assessments are tapping into what they are meant to measure. Assessment procedures vary greatly in their reliability and validity. Certain diagnostic categories are more reliable than others. Diagnosis, the process of assessing whether a person meets criteria for a mental disorder, is a critical aspect of the field of abnormal psychology. Having an agreed-on diagnostic system allows clinicians to communicate effectively with each other and facilitates the search for causes and treatments. Clinically, diagnosis provides the foundation for treatment planning. The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm), published by the american psychiatric association, is an official diagnostic system widely used. A revision of the fourth edition of the manual, referred to as dsm-iv-tr, was published in 2000. An important feature of the current dsm is its multiaxial organization.
