Psychopathology – Major Depressive Disorder – Paper
When describing the disorder, please make sure to cover all the following topics from 1 – 8:
1. Brief description of symptoms
2. Range of prevalence estimates
o Briefly describe the prevalence estimates found by multiple studies.
o Briefly describe the sample, how the disorder was assessed, and the qualifications of
the assessors
3. Overlap with other disorders/comorbidity
o What have various studies found regarding how often this disorder co-occurs with other conditions?
4. Underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis
o Describe what studies have found regarding the extent to which the Major Depressive Disorder is underdiagnosed or overdiagnosed
o Describe any difficulties which might emerge when trying to differentiate this
disorder from normal psychological functioning (particularly at the lower end of
disorder severity).
5. Natural course of the disorder
o How do symptoms of the disorder change over time?
6. Cultural dimensions
o Briefly describe one study examining how the disorder is related to culture. This
could include such studies as those examining different presentations of symptoms by
members of different cultural beliefs, differing prevalence rates across cultures, or
other factors regarding the interface of culture with the disorder.
7. Relationship to HiTOP
o Tie your disorder into the hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology (HiTOP).
Indicate where your disorder falls in the HiTOP model.
8. Future directions for research
o Briefly respond to the following: what is not known or not clearly understood about
your disorder?
o What type(s) of studies would be useful for advancing understanding of your topic?
