Two Articles Review - Research Paper Example

Articles Review Lecturer: Articles Review Introduction Anxiety and mood disorders are the among the widespread mental health problems affecting many kids and teenagers across the globe. Therefore, in an attempt to learn and understand more about these disorders, the researcher reviewed two articles talking about anxiety and mood disorders. The aim was to gain into an insight in order to understand more about anxiety and mood disorder issues. The first article tested the validity in the adult population with mood disorders and questionnaires about mood disorders were formulated in a psychiatric outpatient research study.

The second article sought to characterize the cognitive function of aging patients with generalized anxiety disorder. First Article Description Mantella, R. C., Butters, M. A., Dew, M. A., Mulsant, B. H., Begley, A. E., Tracey, B., Shear, M. K., & Lenze, E. J. (January 01, 2007). Cognitive Impairment in Late-Life Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 8, 673-679 is the article, which discuses cognitive functioning aspects in elderly population with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder).

The authors compared GAD patients with major depression patients in order to determine their behaviors. The authors employed a cross-sectional assessment method to determine cognitive functioning in GAD. The Mattis Dementia Rating Scale was used in rating cognitive function in GAD across particular domains such as ability, memory in comparison with late-life major depression disorders (Mantella, R. C., Butters, Dew, Mulsant, Begley, Tracey, Shear and Lenze, 2007). After the rating and comparison of the subjects, it was found that the anxious subjects were impaired on a short-term and led to delayed memory.

Depressed subject also performed poorly on delayed memory and anxious subjects were similar in measures of cognitive function. Pros and Cons The study depended heavily on the previous published studies; thus creating a misunderstanding on which article could be reliable. The results of the study relied on comparisons of subjects across populations and the methods employed were subjected to reliability and validity issues. However, the results were the initial indicator for the need of more research and since the tests were carried in the clinical settings, the results were expected to vary significantly.

Insight Gained There were varied aspects gained from reading the above article. One of them is that the article provided the clear understanding on the way cognitive functioning in late-life GAD contributes to impairments in short-term memory. Secondly, the comparison made between GAD and other subjects was effective. This is because the authors employed valuable methods that provided clear analysis on the way depression, anxiety and other aspect impact the cognitive functioning of the elderly population.

However, diving in and critically thinking about this article contributes to additional questions of language barrier, how tests were carried out across cultures, and if comparisons were the reliable way of determining the cognitive function in comparison to depression in late-life for GAD patients. Therefore, there is a need for further research studies to continue assessing and comparing the test results over time; thus offering effective information of GAD in late-life across cultures. Second Article Description Hirschfeld, R. M., Holzer, C.

, Calabrese, J. R., Weissman, M., Reed, M., Davies, M., Frye, M.A., & Hazard, E. (January 01, 2003). Validity of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire: a General Population Study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1, 178-80 discusses the study, which was conducted in an attempt to understand mood disorder. The research objective was to test the validity in the population of the adult group through using a screening instrument for bipolar I, and II known as Mood Disorder Questionnaire. The authors employed sampling methodology by selecting randomly 85, 358 adult respondents and balanced them with demographic variables.

The result of the study revealed a sensitivity of specificity of about 0.972, which was obtained from the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (Hirschfeld, Holzer, Calabrese, Weissman, Reed, Davies, Frye and Hazard (2003). Pros and Cons There was limited information of the study employed outside reviewing the Mood Disorder Questionnaire tool, which was being used to understand mood disorder. There were also a problem of interpretation of the study and the methods employed in testing the subjects. However, the Mood Disorder Questionnaire screening instrument employed was an effective tool that allowed an impartial review of the research tests.

This tool and the sampling method employed enabled the researchers to meet the study criteria of evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. Insight Gained When reviewing this article, the initial taught were negative because the authors depended on the other previous research. However, through reviewing the article, it was clearly evidenced that the research was effective because it provided new study on the validity of the mood disorder. The method employed and the tool used in carrying out research study enabled the reader to understand clearly the validity of the mood disorders for the adult population.

Conclusion The research articles were effective because they provided significant information about anxiety and mood disorders. The researcher conducted effective study by employing varied methods, as well as, utilized significant tools for rating mood disorders across the study population. Although there were some problems experienced, the articles were proven to be significant scholarly articles because they offered valid and valuable information. However, there is need to critically focus into insight the way information provided need to be interpreted when dealing with clients with varied disorders in the future.

References Hirschfeld, R. M., Holzer, C., Calabrese, J. R., Weissman, M., Reed, M., Davies, M., Frye, M. A., & Hazard, E. (January 01, 2003). Validity of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire: a General Population Study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1, 178-80. Mantella, R. C., Butters, M. A., Dew, M. A., Mulsant, B. H., Begley, A. E., Tracey, B., Shear, M. K., & Lenze, E. J. (January 01, 2007). Cognitive Impairment in Late-Life Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 8, 673-679.