CHAPTER ONE
Examples and Definitions of Abnormal
Behavior
Examples and Definitions of
Abnormal Behavior
• Defining abnormal behavior
• DSM- IV definition of abnormality
• The role of culture
• Epidemiology
Abnormal Psychology Video
The purpose of this video is to think about:
• What are abnormal and normal
behaviors?
• What should you consider in determining
which behaviors are abnormal or normal?
Examples and Definitions of
Abnormal Behavior
• Defining abnormal behavior
• DSM-IV definition of abnormality
• The role of culture
• Epidemiology
Defining Abnormal Behavior
• Personal Distress
• subjective discomfort
• Statistical Deviance
• relative frequency of specific
condition in general population
• Social Non-Conformity
• violation of moral standards
• observer discomfort
• situational/cultural context
What is Mental Illness?
• Mental illness is a natural, fuzzy concept
• Thomas Szasz: myth of mental illness
• David Ausubel: mental illness as tangible,
undesirable behavior
Definitions
• Symptoms
• thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that
indicate a mental disorder
• Syndrome
• a group of symptoms that tend to co-occur
and are assumed to have a common etiology
• Additional Considerations
• duration
• impairment
Definitions
(continued)
• “Harmful Dysfunction” (Wakefield)
A condition is a mental disorder only if:
• it results from failure of some internal
mechanism to perform its natural function
• it causes harm to the person as judged by
standards of that person’s culture
Examples and Definitions of
Abnormal Behavior
• Defining abnormal behavior
• DSM- IV definition of abnormality
• The role of culture
• Epidemiology
Mental Disorder vs.
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder vs.
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder
&
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder vs.
Abnormal Behavior
Mental Disorder
Abnormal Behavior
Examples and Definitions of
Abnormal Behavior
• Defining abnormal behavior
• DSM- IV definition of abnormality
• The role of culture
• Epidemiology
The Role of Culture
• Zeitgeist = “spirit of the times”
• drapetomania (out)
• homosexuality (out)
• pathological gambling (in)
• Cultural Relativity (emic vs etic)
• Cultural influences on prevalence
Cultural Relativity
• Etic perspective (outsider)
• emphasis on universals among human
beings from a position outside the culture of
interest
• Emic perspective (insider)
• examines behavior from within a culture,
using culture-specific criteria
Causal Models of Cultural
Influence (Weisz, 1987)
• Problem Suppression-Facilitation Model
• culture suppresses (via punishment) some
behaviors
• culture facilitates (via modeling and
reinforcement) other behaviors
•
Adult-Distress-Threshold Model
• culture determines adult thresholds for
different types of child problems
Examples and Definitions of
Abnormal Behavior
• Defining abnormal behavior
• DSM- IV definition of abnormality
• The role of culture
• Epidemiology
How often does abnormal behavior
occur? (more definitions)
• Epidemiology
• study of the frequency and
distribution of disorders
within a population
• Comorbidity
• manifestation of more than one
disorder (at same time)
Incidence
• Incidence
• the number of new cases of a disorder that
occur in a population within a specific time
period
Prevalence
• Prevalence
• the total number of active cases (old and
new) present in the population at a given
time
• Lifetime prevalence
• the total number of people in a given
population who have been affected by the
disorder at some point in their lives
Epidemiology Ex: Depression
MARK
KYLE
JULIE
JENN
JOE
JULY 05
JAN 06
JULY 06
JAN 07
Question
How many individuals will be counted for
the incidence of Depression in 2006?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
Question
How many individuals will be counted for
the incidence of Depression in 2007?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
Question
How many individuals will be counted for
the 12-month prevalence of Depression
in 2006?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
Question
How many individuals will be counted for
the lifetime prevalence of Depression in
2007?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
Optional Slides
Example:
Lambert & Lyubansky (1999)
• Compared American and Jamaican children’s &
adolescents’ behavior problems using parents’ and
teachers’ reports
FINDINGS
• # of total problem behaviors – same in both cultures
• In the US, externalizing is almost twice as much as
internalizing in children and (lower in) adolescents
• In Jamaica, same rate of ext. & int. in children and
more internalizing in adolescents
Summary of Epidemiological
Findings (adults)
• 1-year prevalence of any psychological diagnosis =
about 20%
• 1-year prevalence rate of any addictive diagnosis =
6%
• About 9% have psychological diagnosis and
experience functional impairment
• About 5% have severe psychological diagnosis, but
only about .5% receive disability
• Most common is specific phobia (8.3%), followed by
major depression (7.1%)
Summary of Epidemiological
Findings (children)
• 1-year prevalence of any psychological disorder
= about 20%
• Anxiety disorders (13%) and behavioral
disorders (10.3%) are most common
• Not all disorders identified in childhood persist
into adulthood
Summary of Epidemiological
Findings (Race)
• Racial and ethnic groups
• similar rates in U.S. when controlling for SES
(Surgeon General’s report)
• strong discrepancies in utilization of services
and quality of services in U.S.
• internationally: culture exerts influence on
prevalence of many diagnoses
Summary of Epidemiological
Findings (Sex)
• Gender
• gender differences exist, particularly in
depression and substance abuse
• women more likely to use mental health
services