Correlation between Age and Gender which Portray Varying Trends in Depression Cases - Admission/Application Essay Example

Depression: Research Proposal Everyone at one particular time has had a feeling of being down or having a feeling of deep rejection or lack of satisfaction of one’s needs. Such deep mental feeling of discontent may well result in depression. In fact, currently depression has overtaken anxiety as the presiding disconnect among many people in the society (Martin, 1999). Depression has been identified as the main cause of alcoholism, drug addiction, damaged careers, troubled relations, and leading to much misery and pain; generally, it is the principle cause of self diminishment (Martin, 1999). Most depression cases are not sickness, but medics have gone too far in medicalizing it (Martin, 1999). Treating every case of depression through medication becomes a trend than a wise way of addressing depression cases. Therefore, not every case of depression is treatable through medication, and there are alternative ways of dealing with different depression cases away from medical prescription. This makes it necessary to understand trends of depression related to age and gender before settling to treating it. Research Question 1 What are the main causes of depression? Hansson, Chotai and Bodlund (2010) explain various causes of depression. This research will try to evaluate and indentify the various causes of depression, understanding the symptoms, and indentifying whether depression has the same causes in different genders and across a wider age group. This is because depression varies according to its cause and treatment of depression largely varies according to these causes (Hansson, Chotai, & Bodlund, 2010). Is the depression caused by other illness or is it caused by stress? Research 2: The main symptoms of depression in participants Different depression patients portray symptoms leading to beliefs regarding causes and treatment preference of depression (Khalsa et al., 2011). The research is aimed at investigating some of the symptoms affecting most depression patients in understanding depression across age groups better. Research 3: What groups of people are more prone to depression? Since depression has been shown to be more prevalent than anxiety, the research is meant to find out exactly which groups of people are more prone to depression attacks. As explained above, depression prevalence cases have led to diverse beliefs regarding symptoms, causes, and treatments. Understanding the more vulnerable groups would help in the treatment process. Research 4: Is there any correlation between substance abuse, degree of satisfaction in life, and depression? In beliefs about depression, as Khalsa et al. (2011) argue, there are beliefs that substance abuse is much related to depression in that heavy substance abuse or lack of these substances may lead to depression. In addition, depression and poverty have been correlated where low degree of satisfaction in life is presumed to lead to depression cases. Research 5: Is depression correlated to age, race, and gender? There are beliefs that more males in their 20s have a higher prevalence of being depressed (Adkins et al., 2010). The research seeks to investigate any correlation between age and gender, which portray varying trends in depression cases, and the subsequent symptoms and treatment. The research will seek to evaluate the prevalence of depression in a given sample of participants with the interrelatedness of either age or gender and depression being determined. The research will involve people in the age bracket of 18-55 years, currently suffering depression and taking anti-depressants. Youths especially in the adolescent age have higher rates of depressive symptoms compared to adults (Ge et al., 2006 cited in Adkins et al., 2009). Covering this age group will portray depression distribution in different age groups, in validating the above research finding regarding youths having a higher percentage of suffering depression compared to older people. Recruitment of participants Participants will be recruited from two rehabilitation centers in Dallas, dealing mainly with psychological and mental disorders. The inclusion criteria shall be: participants will be required to be over 18 years and competent in both verbal and written English communication. Exclusion criteria shall be those with severe depression cases inhibiting them from making logical decisions, those who cannot read or write appropriately, and those with advanced concentration problems. Females participating in the study will be required not to be in their menstrual cycles, as depression might be more pronounced to females in their menstrual periods (Adkins et al., 2009).The study will involve 20 participants distributed over the stated age group, 10 from each rehabilitation center. Explains WHEN and how long participants will be studied for? The sample group shall hold joint meetings twice a week in discussion forums regarding their experiences, causes, and symptoms of depression. Participants will also be required to regularly participate in online charts as a group to share these experiences. The study shall be carried out for 5 months, a period long enough for depression patients to regain their mental health; results will then be evaluated and success of the study determined. Details WHERE participants will be studied/engaged The study will concentrate on symptoms, causes of depression, and the experiences of individuals in depression to investigate the different causes and symptoms (Khalsa et al., 2011) Explanation of Procedures The study will involve having private sessions with each member of the sample group consisting about 20 members, and requesting them for answers to questions indicated in annex 1. The first response will be informing of interview, while the second part will be informing of questionnaire where participants will be required to write and explain answers. The communication shall remain confidential and experiences of the individual will not be communicated unless with prior permission from the individual. The focus group will be aimed at sharing experiences and harmonizing their experiences, and helping the individuals to open up to the study. The experiences of each member shall then be recorded for analysis and comparison with others to indentify the common trends to formulate a formidable hypothesis in the research. Interview All information shall be confidential to the highest degree according to research ethics, and participants will only be required to answer questions voluntarily without any coercion (Sabina, 2012). The data recorded will be confidential and names of participants will not be used in questionnaires, but participants will be accorded specific codes to be used in data recording and analysis purposes, to differentiate between gender and age of the participant. After analysis, participants will be accorded a special preference to view the analyzed data to ensure they are comfortable with the research findings being published to the public (Sabina, 2012). Importantly, interviews will be conducted at the participant’s discretion to ensure they are comfortable with these sessions, and are open to answering the questionnaire as accurately as possible. Data Analysis An important aspect in obtaining data from this research is that the data shall be collected objectively, and with structured questionnaires to avoid any subjective inclination when collecting data. Data collection moderators will be required to stick to the structured questionnaires, not to interrupt the participants, and to remain focused in the entire process without any subjective opinions affecting the data. Data will be collected away from presence of the rehabilitation staff, whose presence and interruptions particularly where patients seem to be in difficulty may result in subjective and skewed data. In addition to the questionnaire, a special moderator will be obligated to closely observe nonverbal aspects of communication, and noting the same for further analysis and comparison. The data analysis procedure will mostly entail closely studying the discussion forums in groups, analyzing the online discussion forums, and consolidating data taken to formulate a particular hypothesis to reveal trends in depression causes, severity, symptoms, and other variations across gender or age. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses will be employed in the research. Numerical data collected regarding closed end questions and other trends that may be numerated will be analyzed quantitatively using data analysis tools such as SPSS, in determining tests and standards deviations, which will closely portray distribution of the above variables across the age groups and gender. In addition, the beliefs of the respondents as determined from online and live discussion groups will be evaluated to indicate any correlation between beliefs, causes of depression, and its symptoms (Hansson, Chotai, & Bodlund, 2010). To make data analysis more effective, the research shall employ recorded data through various recording multimedia during interviews, recording of nonverbal behaviors, analyzing the questionnaires and data collected in online and live discussion groups, all of which will contribute to understanding depression trends across age groups and gender. References Adkins D.E., Wang, V., Dupre E.M., & Edwin J.C.G., & Elder H.G. (2009). Structure and stress: Trajectories of depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood. Social Forces 88(1), 31–60. Hansson, M, Chotai, J., & Bodlund, O. (2010). Patients' beliefs about the cause of their depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 124(1/2), 54-59 Khalsa, R.T. et al. (2011). Beliefs about the causes of depression and treatment preferences. Journal of Clinical Psychology 67, 539–549. Martin, W.M. (1999). Depression: Illness, insight, and identity. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 6(4), 271-286. Sabine, S. (2012). Empirical research in medical ethics: How conceptual accounts on normative-empirical collaboration may improve research practice. BMC Med Ethics 13(1), 5. Appendix 1 Interview Questionnaire Please we are carrying out a research on depression with an aim of understanding it better to help patients overcome this condition better. I would appreciate if you respond to a few questions, willingly, voluntarily and to the best accuracy possible. Open ended questions Please indicate your age and gender here: Age…… Gender…… 1. Are you feeling any awkward feeling regarding something in particular now or in the near past? If not, do you have any bad feeling on something that happened long in the past? B. what do you think are the main causes of your feelings? C. do you feel that way regularly or occasionally? What do you think makes you to feel that way. 2. Do you have any feelings of rejection, being criticized, unloved, or feelings that others are against you? How frequent are these feelings? B. Do these feelings affect the way you interact with others or the way you carry on with your daily activities? 3. Please briefly explain your reactions after having the feelings in 2a above. For instance, state how severe these feelings are, and how long they last. 4. What are your beliefs regarding how these feelings can be overcome, and how successful is this intervention to you. Please mention if you have used this intervention before. 5. Have you received any medication from the center? If yes, how effective is this medication to you? Closed ended questions 1. I feel as if the world is against me (Please tick the correct answer) Not at all Somehow To a large extent Completely Please explain your answer in 1 above. 2. I best choose to keep my worries within myself Not at all Somehow In most cases Always Please explain the reason behind our answer in 2 above. 3. I feel that my world is coming to an imminent end Not at all Occasionally Regularly Most certainly b. Please explain your feelings in 3a above 4. I usually have difficulties in concentrating in my activities as I feel overwhelmingly disturbed Not at all In some cases In most cases Always Please explain the answer in 4 a above 5. My happiness and joy in life has disappeared Not at all Some how To a large extent Completely b. Please briefly explain your answer in 5a above. Read More