scholarly journals Risk Orientation Scale: A new clinically relevant measure of risk aversion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary P. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Orientation Scale ◽  
Measures Of Risk ◽  
Research Domain

Aversion to risk is a prominent factor in transdiagnostic theories of emotional problems, and it is included as an element in the research domain criteria. There is a plethora of risk scales across different domains, but most of these have notable shortcomings or are not suited for use in mental health research. The present study describes the development of the Risk Orientation Scale. Content was drawn from previous risk scales and separate classifications of risk. The factor structure of the ROS was derived in a clinically relevant sample and confirmed in two other independent non-clinical samples. The final 15-item ROS was found to have an adequate three-factor structure across clinical, general population and undergraduate student samples. Total and subscale scores covaried in the predicted direction with measures of risk taking behavior, underlying orientation towards reward and punishment, and clinical anxiety-relevant measures that have been theoretically linked to risk. The findings on the ROS thus support the idea that aversion to risk is a process that underlies anxiety disorders. The ROS can provide a brief and valid measure of this in both clinical and non-clinical populations. As it provides risk orientation towards specific domains, it can potentially aid in guiding clinicians in targeting important underlying mechanism in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

The National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria

2020 ◽  
pp. 62-72
Author(s):  
Charles A. Sanislow ◽  
Sarah E. Morris ◽  
Jennifer Pacheco ◽  
Bruce N. Cuthbert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Behavioural Science ◽  
Integrative Research ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Research Domain

The United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative offers a framework to facilitate integrative research to clarify core mechanisms of human mental distress and dysfunction. The RDoC was developed to provide an alternative to research, designed around clinical syndromes based on descriptive diagnosis. Rather than beginning with a syndrome and then working ‘down’ to clarify mechanisms, the aim of the RDoC is to guide research that begins with disruptions in neurobiological and behavioural mechanisms, and then works across systems to clarify connections among such disruptions and clinical symptoms. The RDoC also departs from widely accepted categorical diagnoses, instead advocating a dimensional account of clinically significant variance in disrupted mechanisms and symptoms. The need for the RDoC stemmed from the realization that psychopathology research was not keeping pace with advances in clinical neuroscience and behavioural science, and the recognition that the cycle of scientific progress has been hampered by the instantiation of DSM diagnoses as the starting point of psychiatric research design. This chapter details the rationale and development of the RDoC and describes their structure. Some practical considerations and theoretical matters for implementing the RDoC alternative are considered.

Searching for the Big Pictures

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 817-830
Author(s):  
Stephen K. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
General Audience ◽  
Formal Ontologies ◽  
Psychological Knowledge ◽  
Research Domain

My goal in searching for the big pictures is to discover novel ways of organizing information in psychology that will have both theoretical and practical significance. The first section lists my reasons for writing each of five articles. The second section discusses an additional five articles that integrate advancements in artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology. The following two sections elaborate on my collaboration with ontologists to use formal ontologies to organize psychological knowledge, including the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria, for formulating a biological basis for mental illness. I next discuss strategies for writing integrative articles. The following section describes the helpfulness of the integrations for making psychology relevant to a general audience. I conclude with recommendations for creating breadth in doctoral training.

Global mental health and the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 436-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stevan Merill Weine ◽  
Scott Langenecker ◽  
Aliriza Arenliu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Targeted Prevention ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
New Research ◽  
Research Domain

Background: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project presents innovative ways of investigating mental illness based on behavioral and neurobiological measures of dimensional processes. Although cultural psychiatrists have critiqued RDoC’s implications and limitations for its under-developed focus on context and experience, RDoC presents opportunities for synergies with global mental health. It can capture aspects of clinical or sub-clinical behavior which are less dependent upon Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) and perhaps better elucidate the role of culture in disease expression and resilience. Aim/Results: This article uses the example of migration to describe several starting points for new research: (1) providing components for building an investigable conceptual framework to understand individual’s mental health, resilience and adjustment to migration challenges or social adversities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and (2) identifying measurable factors which determine resilience or vulnerability, to guide development and evaluation of targeted prevention, treatment and recovery strategies for mental health in LMICs. Conclusion: In such ways, RDoC frameworks could help put the new cutting edge neurobiological dimensional scientific advances in a position to contribute to addressing mental health problems amid social adversities in LMICs. However, this would require a much-expanded commitment by both RDoC and global mental health researchers to address contextual and experiential dimensions.

scholarly journals The implications of the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria for researchers and clinicians

2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 409-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Østergaard ◽  
M. Fava ◽  
A. J. Rothschild ◽  
K. M. Deligiannidis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Research Domain Criteria ◽  
Research Domain
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document