The Nature and Function of General, Social-Evaluative and Physical-Threat Worry in Non-Anxious and Panic Disorder Populations

Marsh, Charlie (2000) The Nature and Function of General, Social-Evaluative and Physical-Threat Worry in Non-Anxious and Panic Disorder Populations. D Clin Psy thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Seventy-two initial referral reply letters to general practitioners from clinical psychologists with varying levels of clinical experience were examined for content, length and quality. The typical content and length of letters, together with content omissions, are described. Inter-rater agreement in judging quality attributes of letters was tested, and significant discrepancies between the judgements of experienced clinicians were found. When letters were allocated to 'quality' categories on the basis of the majority opinion of three such clinicians, only a quarter were judged as 'good', while almost half were considered merely 'adequate', and 28% were thought to be 'poor'. A number of objective and qualitative characteristics of 'good' letters were identified. It was also revealed that the quality of experienced clinicians' letters did not differ from that of novice clinicians, and that there were few noteworthy differences in content. Finally, some recommendations for improving training in writing initial reports are made.

• Item Type: Thesis (D Clin Psy)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Paul Flemming
• Keywords: Clinical psychology
• Date of Award: 2000
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2000-76235
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 19 Dec 2019 09:15
• Last Modified: 19 Dec 2019 09:15
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/76235