Carr, Emma;
(2021)
An Exploration of The Nosology of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The conceptual introduction in part 1 explores the literature related to different aspects of the nosology of GAD including the diagnostic and psychological conceptualisations of the disorder, epidemiology, evidence for the uniqueness of current features in the diagnostic criteria including the cardinal feature of worry and application of alternative frameworks to understand the presentation of the disorder. Overall, it suggests that GAD currently has no features unique to the disorder that can reliably distinguish it from other anxiety and depressive disorders. It seems that GAD continues its legacy as a residual disorder characterised by what it is not as opposed to what it is and there is limited research into options for alternative features that may help better understand presentations of the disorder. The empirical study in part 2 explores the presence of subgroups within GAD and characterises their symptom profiles and stability using a latent transition analysis on sessional item-level data from a large sample of people receiving routine psychological treatment. Findings highlight the high levels of depression symptom endorsement in all GAD subgroups, the lack of distinguishing features between these groups and qualitative similarities with subgroups from a wider population of patients with anxiety and depressive disorders. Patterns in the transitions were found demonstrating the potential for GAD presentations to later emerge for some. The critical appraisal in part 3 details reflections on the experience of working within and challenging the status quo of diagnostic-led service provision in mental health. It also includes reflections on the research process and experience of working with a large secondary dataset, and the importance of such approaches for psychologists.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Clin.Psy |
| Title: | An Exploration of The Nosology of Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2021. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139590 |
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