Study Other mental health disorder in the Pearson Edexcel A Level Psychology specification, with the knowledge and exam application needed for accurate mark-scheme responses.
In your studies of clinical psychology you will have learned about mental health disorders such as schizophrenia.
You will have also learned about either unipolar depression or anorexia nervosa.
Explain two strengths of one biological explanation for either unipolar depression or anorexia nervosa.
Chosen disorder
Strength 1
Strength 2
AO1 (2 marks), AO3 (2 marks)
Credit one mark for accurate identification of each strength (AO1)
Credit one mark for justification/exemplification of each strength (AO3)
For example:
Unipolar depression
Strength one
- Geddes et al. (2003) found that antidepressants which increase
serotonin were effective in reducing relapse which links depression to
neurotransmitter levels (1) and showed an 18\% relapse vs. 41\% for a
placebo group which lasted up to three years so gives the monoamine
hypothesis validity (1).
Strength two
- Emslie et al. (1997) found that fluoxetine was significantly more effective
than placebo in two RCTs with children and adolescents which supports
the monoamine hypothesis (1) as it shows that SSRIs like fluoxetine
which increase serotonin gives the theory validity with different
populations (1).
Anorexia nervosa
- Kortegaard et al. (2001) found concordance for twins was higher in MZ
than DZ twins which supports the view that genes contribute to
anorexia (1) with heritability estimates of 0.48 for narrow definitions of
self-reported anorexia of 34,142 young Danish twins, giving the theory
validity (1).
- Bulik et al. (2006) found heritability of narrowly defined anorexia of 0.56
which supports at least part genetic basis for the disorder (1) and
suggests that more than half of the cause of disorder is heritable when
assessing 31,406 twins in Sweden so the explanation has validity (1).
Look for other reasonable marking points.
(4)