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Specialist Option 1: Clinical Psychology

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  1. Clinical Psychology overview and key studies

    1. Clinical Psychology overview

      • Specialist Option 1: Clinical Psychology - Clinical psychology is the study of a range of mental and behavioural disorders/conditions and the potential explanations and available treatments for them. There are many competing explanations and treatments for the conditions/disorders. Candidates will be expected to understand the strengths and weaknesses of these explanations and treatments and compare them with each other. Candidates should have the opportunity to explore the different issues and debates relevant to the psychological theories and concepts and the research methods used to investigate these conditions/disorders. For all topics and studies, candidates should be able to: - describe, evaluate and compare the psychological theories, research, approaches, explanations and treatments/therapies - describe and evaluate research methods and methodological concepts (for AS and A Level) - consider how the topic area relates to psychological issues and debates (for AS and A Level) - apply the findings of the study and topic area to the real world. After each topic there is a list of issues and debates and research methodology which are most relevant to the topic. This list is not exhaustive and teachers may use other relevant issues and methodology in their teaching. At A Level we assume knowledge of the approaches studied at AS Level (biological, cognitive, learning and social) but we introduce the following terms for this option. - Biological - - explanations (genetic, biochemical) - - measures (such as blood pressure) - - treatments (such as electro-convulsive therapy) - Psychological - - explanations (behavioural, cognitive and psychodynamic) - - therapies (such as systematic desensitisation)

    2. Clinical Psychology key studies

      • Key studies for Clinical Psychology - Freeman, D, Slater, M, Bebbington, P E, Garety, P A, Kuipers, E, Fowler, D, Met, A, Read, C, Jordan, J and - Vinayagamoorthy, V (2003), Can virtual reality be used to investigate persecutory ideation? The Journal of - Nervous and Mental Disease, 191(8): 509-14 - Oruč, L, Verheyen, G R, Furac, I, Jakovljević, M, Ivezić, S, Raeymaekers, P and Broeckhoven, C V (1997), - Association analysis of the 5‐HT2C receptor and 5‐HT transporter genes in bipolar disorder. American Journal - of Medical Genetics, 74(5): 504-6 - Grant, J E, Kim, S W, Hollander, E and Potenza, M N (2008), Predicting response to opiate antagonists and - placebo in the treatment of pathological gambling. Psychopharmacology, 200(4): 521-27 - Chapman, L K and DeLapp, R C (2013), Nine Session Treatment of a Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia With - Manualized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: An Adult Case Example. Clinical Case Studies, 20(10): 299-312 - Lovell, K, Cox, D, Haddock, G, Jones, C, Raines, D, Garvey, R, Roberts, C and Hadley, S (2006), Telephone - administered cognitive behaviour therapy for treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder: randomised - controlled non-inferiority trial. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 333(7574): 883

    3. Clinical Psychology key-study requirements

      • For each key study, candidates should know, understand and evaluate - the context of the study and relationship to other studies - the main theories/explanations included in the study - the aim(s) and hypotheses of the study [if stated] - the design of the study, including all methodology as appropriate, such as the research method(s) used, sample size and demographics [if known] and sampling technique [if known], procedure, technique for data collection - the results, findings and conclusions of the study - the main discussion points of the study. - describe and evaluate research methods used in and methodological concepts included in the study (for AS and A Level) - describe and evaluate the psychological issues and debates (for AS and A Level) included in the study. - Note: for the purposes of the subject content and assessment material we will use the terms used in ICD-11. We are aware that this set of guidelines is not used universally and will accept alternative terms if used appropriately.

  2. 1.1 Schizophrenia

    1. 1.1.1Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia

      • 1.1.1 Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia - diagnostic criteria (ICD-11) of schizophrenia, including symptoms (positive and negative). A case study of schizophrenia. - types of delusions focusing on investigating delusions using virtual reality (exemplified by the following key study). - Key study using virtual reality to investigate persecutory ideation: Freeman et al. (2003). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: individual and situational explanations, idiographic versus nomothetic, case studies, generalisations.

    2. 1.1.2Explanations of schizophrenia

      • 1.1.2 Explanations of schizophrenia - biological explanations: - - genetic - - biochemical (the dopamine hypothesis). - psychological (cognitive) explanation. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: individual and situational explanations, nature versus nurture, reductionism versus holism, determinism versus free-will, idiographic versus nomothetic.

    3. 1.1.3Treatment and management of schizophrenia

      • 1.1.3 Treatment and management of schizophrenia - biological treatments: - - biochemical including typical and atypical antipsychotics - - electro-convulsive therapy. - psychological therapy: cognitive-behavioural therapy, including a study, e.g. Sensky et al. (2000). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: idiographic versus nomothetic, experiments, longitudinal studies, generalisations, ethics.

  3. 1.2 Mood (affective) disorders: depressive disorder (unipolar) and bipolar

    1. 1.2.1Mood disorder criteria

      • 1.2.1 Diagnostic criteria for mood (affective) disorders - diagnostic criteria (ICD-11) of mood disorders: depressive disorder (unipolar) and bipolar disorders including manic and depressive episodes. - measure of depression: Beck depression inventory. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: individual and situational explanations, cultural differences, quantitative and qualitative data, psychometrics, validity.

    2. 1.2.2Mood disorder explanations

      • 1.2.2 Explanations of mood (affective) disorders: depressive disorder (unipolar) - biological explanations: - - biochemical - - genetic (exemplified by the following key study). - Key study on association analysis of genetics of depressive disorder: Oruč et al. (1997). - psychological explanations: - - Beck's cognitive theory of depression and attributional style, including a study, e.g. Seligman et al. (1988) - - learned helplessness. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: nature versus nurture, reductionism versus holism, determinism versus free-will, experiments, reliability.

    3. 1.2.3Mood disorder treatments

      • 1.2.3 Treatment and management of mood (affective) disorders - biological treatments including the use of anti-depressants (tricyclics, MAOIs and SSRIs). - psychological therapies: - - Beck's cognitive restructuring - - Ellis's rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: application to everyday life, individual and situational explanations, reductionism versus holism, determinism versus free-will, generalisations.

  4. 1.3 Impulse control disorders

    1. 1.3.1Criteria for impulse control disorders

      • 1.3.1 Diagnostic criteria for impulse control disorders - diagnostic criteria (ICD-11) of impulse control disorders: - - kleptomania - - pyromania - - gambling disorder. - measure of impulse control disorders: Kleptomania Symptom Assessment Scale (K-SAS). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: idiographic versus nomothetic, questionnaires, quantitative and qualitative data, objective and subjective data.

    2. 1.3.2Explanations of impulse control disorders

      • 1.3.2 Explanations of impulse control disorders - biological explanation: dopamine. - psychological explanations: - - behavioural: positive reinforcement - - cognitive: Miller's feeling-state theory. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: application to everyday life, individual and situational explanations, nature versus nurture, reductionism versus holism, determinism versus free-will.

    3. 1.3.3Treatment of impulse control disorders

      • 1.3.3 Treatment and management of impulse control disorders - biological treatments (exemplified by the following key study). - Key study on treating gambling disorder with drugs and placebo: Grant et al. (2008). - psychological (cognitive-behavioural) therapies including: - - covert sensitisation, including a study, e.g. Glover (1985) - - imaginal desensitisation, including a study, e.g. Blaszczynski and Nower (2003). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: application to everyday life, reductionism versus holism, idiographic versus nomothetic, interviews, generalisations.

  5. 1.4 Anxiety disorders and fear-related disorders

    1. 1.4.1Anxiety criteria

      • 1.4.1 Diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders and fear-related disorders - diagnostic criteria (ICD-11) of anxiety disorders and fear-related disorders: - - generalised anxiety disorder - - agoraphobia - - specific phobia (blood-injection-injury). - measures of anxiety and fear-related disorders: - - Generalised Anxiety Disorder assessment (GAD-7). - - the Blood-injection Phobia Inventory (BIPI), including a study, e.g. Mas et al. (2010). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: questionnaires, psychometrics, subjective and objective data, validity, reliability.

    2. 1.4.2Fear-related explanations

      • 1.4.2 Explanations of fear-related disorders - biological explanation: genetic, including a study, e.g. Öst (1992). - psychological explanations: - - behavioural (classical conditioning), including a study, e.g. Watson and Rayner (1920) 'Little Albert' - - psychodynamic, including a study, e.g. Freud (1909) 'Little Hans'. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: nature versus nurture, determinism versus free-will, case studies, longitudinal studies, validity.

    3. 1.4.3Anxiety treatments

      • 1.4.3 Treatment and management of anxiety disorders and fear-related disorders - behavioural therapy: systematic desensitisation applied to any fear-related disorder. - psychological therapy (exemplified by the following key study): - - cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) - - applied tension focusing on treating blood-injection-injury phobia. - Key study on treating blood-injection-injury phobia using cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) with applied tension: Chapman and DeLapp (2013). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: idiographic versus nomothetic, case studies, self-reports, longitudinal studies, generalisations.

  6. 1.5 Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

    1. 1.5.1OCD criteria

      • 1.5.1 Diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder - diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (ICD-11) focusing on types of obsessions and compulsions, including a study, e.g. Rapoport (1989) 'Charles'. - measures: - - Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) - - Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: interviews, case studies, quantitative and qualitative data, psychometrics, validity.

    2. 1.5.2OCD explanations

      • 1.5.2 Explanations of obsessive-compulsive disorder - biological explanations: - - biochemical - - genetic. - psychological explanations: - - cognitive (thinking error) - - behavioural (operant conditioning) - - psychodynamic. - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: individual and situational explanations, nature versus nurture, reductionism versus holism, determinism versus free-will, idiographic versus nomothetic.

    3. 1.5.3OCD treatments

      • 1.5.3 Treatment and management of obsessive-compulsive disorder - biological treatments including the use of SSRIs. - psychological therapies including: - - exposure and response prevention (ERP), including a study, e.g. Lehmkuhl et al. (2008) - - cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) (exemplified by the following key study). - Key study on treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder using telephone administered cognitive- behavioural therapy (CBT): Lovell et al. (2006). - Relevant issues and debates and methodology for this topic include: individual and situational explanations, cultural differences, use of children in research, case studies, reliability.