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Effects of three types of potentially biasing information on symptom severity judgments for major depressive episode
Author(s) -
Mumma Gregory H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10046
Subject(s) - psychology , suicidal ideation , expectancy theory , major depressive episode , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , psychopathology , depressive symptoms , psychiatry , poison control , injury prevention , cognition , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , mood , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Two experiments examined the effects of potentially biasing information on judgments of symptom severity pertaining to the diagnosis of major depressive episode (MDE). In both experiments, clinicians viewed videotapes of two actor‐simulated patients responding to questions from a standardized diagnostic interview. In Study 1, an expectancy effect was found for both patients such that prior information about a clear‐cut history of depression resulted in lower rated severity of current symptoms. In addition, a halo effect was observed for one patient in Study 1 and both patients in Study 2: Clear‐cut depressive nonverbal behavior (DNVB) resulted in greater rated severity for symptoms that should not have been affected (e.g., appetite/weight change, suicidal ideation). Clear‐cut versus near‐threshold information for the two essential criteria for MDE did not affect subsequent judgments in either study. Implications for diagnostic interviewing are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 1327–1345, 2002.