Kuwait MOH Clinical Psychologist flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

DSM-5-TR major depressive episode

At least five of nine symptoms for two weeks, including depressed mood or anhedonia, causing clinically significant distress or impairment, and not attributable to mania or a substance.

Schizophrenia Criterion A

Requires two or more active-phase symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms, with at least one from the first three.

Bipolar I versus II

Bipolar I requires at least one manic episode, while bipolar II requires hypomania plus major depression and never a full manic episode.

PTSD symptom clusters

Trauma exposure plus intrusion, avoidance, negative cognitions or mood, and arousal or reactivity changes lasting more than one month with functional impairment.

Standard error of measurement

SEM equals the standard deviation multiplied by the square root of one minus reliability, estimating the variability of an individual's observed score around the true score.

Cronbach's alpha

An internal consistency index estimating the average correlation among items; values of 0.70 or higher are generally acceptable for research and clinical screening.

Sensitivity and specificity

Sensitivity is the proportion of true cases correctly identified; specificity is the proportion of non-cases correctly identified as negative by the test.

MMPI-2 validity scales

The L scale detects naive virtue, the F scale detects infrequency or overreporting, and the K scale detects defensiveness; F-r and Fp improve feigning detection.

Cognitive restructuring

A CBT technique that identifies automatic thoughts, examines evidence for and against them, and generates balanced alternative interpretations to reduce emotional distress.

Behavioral activation

A depression treatment scheduling graded activities that increase mastery and pleasure, reducing avoidance and restoring positive reinforcement from the environment.

Exposure and response prevention

For OCD, repeated exposure to feared triggers while preventing compulsive rituals, allowing anxiety to habituate and disconfirming catastrophic expectations.

DBT four modules

Dialectical behavior therapy teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, balancing acceptance with change strategies.

Motivational interviewing OARS

Core skills are open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries, used to build alliance and evoke the client's own reasons for change.

Serotonin syndrome

A potentially fatal reaction to serotonergic drugs marked by altered mental status, autonomic instability, and neuromuscular hyperactivity such as clonus and hyperreflexia.

Clozapine monitoring

Clozapine carries agranulocytosis risk, so regular white blood cell and absolute neutrophil counts are required; it is used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Lithium therapeutic range

Serum lithium is typically maintained between 0.6 and 1.2 mEq/L, with monitoring of renal function, thyroid function, and signs of toxicity.

Dopamine pathways

Mesolimbic pathway relates to reward and positive symptoms, mesocortical to cognition and negative symptoms, nigrostriatal to movement, and tuberoinfundibular to prolactin regulation.

Piaget concrete operational stage

Ages roughly seven to eleven, when children acquire conservation, classification, and reversibility, thinking logically about concrete but not abstract problems.

Erikson identity stage

Adolescence centers on identity versus role confusion, where the task is forming a coherent sense of self through exploration of roles and values.

Attachment patterns

Ainsworth's Strange Situation classifies secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized attachment based on infant responses to separation and reunion.

ADHD diagnostic criteria

Inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity persisting at least six months, present before age twelve, across two or more settings, with impairment.

Cultural formulation interview

Assesses cultural identity, explanatory models of illness, stressors and supports, and clinician-client relationship factors that shape diagnosis and treatment.

Bowen differentiation of self

The capacity to balance emotional and intellectual functioning while maintaining autonomy within relationships; low differentiation promotes triangles and chronic anxiety.

Structural family therapy

Minuchin's approach restructures boundaries, hierarchies, and subsystems, addressing enmeshment or disengagement to improve family functioning.

Acculturation strategies

Berry described integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization based on maintaining heritage culture and participating in the host society.

Type I and Type II errors

Type I error rejects a true null hypothesis at rate alpha; Type II error fails to reject a false null, with power equal to one minus beta.

Cohen's d effect size

A standardized mean difference with conventional benchmarks of 0.2 small, 0.5 medium, and 0.8 large, used to judge practical significance.

Case-control design

Compares people with a condition to matched controls and estimates the odds ratio of prior exposure; efficient for rare outcomes but vulnerable to recall bias.

Informed consent elements

Disclosure of purpose, risks, benefits, alternatives, and limits of confidentiality, plus voluntary agreement by a person with decision-making capacity, documented.

Duty to protect

When a client poses serious danger to an identifiable person, the clinician takes protective action such as warning, hospitalization, or notification, consistent with law.

Suicide risk assessment domains

Evaluate ideation, plan, intent, access to lethal means, prior attempts, substance use, hopelessness, and protective factors, then document and plan safety.

Safety planning intervention

A written, collaboratively developed list of warning signs, coping strategies, supportive contacts, means restriction, and emergency steps for suicidal crises.

Kuwait MOH licensure

Psychologists must hold current Ministry of Health registration and practice within the scope defined by their qualification and license category.