clinical risk assessment

a clinician-based prediction of the likelihood that an individual will pose a threat to others or engage in a certain behavior (e.g., violence) within a given period. Unlike actuarial risk assessment, a specific formula or weighting system using empirically derived predictors is not applied. Instead, clinicians make predictions of dangerousness or violent behavior primarily on the basis of their own experience, reasoning, and judgment; their observations, examination, and psychological testing of the individual; and information obtained from his or her life history.

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Psychology term of the day

March 11th 2025

mood disorder

in DSM–IV–TR, a psychiatric condition in which the principal feature is a prolonged, pervasive emotional disturbance, such as a depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or substance-induced mood disorder. Also included are mood disorders due to a general medical condition, in which attendant physiological disruptions are believed to produce the emotional changes, and mood disorder not otherwise specified, which does not meet the diagnostic criteria for any of the specific mood disorders. The term chronic mood disorder is applied when symptoms rarely remit. In DSM–5, mood disorders are divided into two categories: bipolar and related disorders, which include bipolar disorder and its subtypes (e.g., bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymic disorder); and depressive disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder). Also called affective disorder.