A Clinician's Guide to Statistics in Mental Health

Describes and applies statistics in plain English, with examples from standard clinical practice, for busy mental health professionals.

S. Nassir Ghaemi (Author)

9781108814966, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 February 2023

174 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 0.9 cm, 0.31 kg

The second edition of a clear and accessible guide to the application of statistics in psychiatric practice. The book expertly describes statistical concepts in clear and simple terms, with minimal mathematical content, making it the ideal resource for busy mental health professionals. Fully revised throughout, it features five new chapters covering key advances in the field and important topics in greater detail. Amongst the key concepts discussed in this edition are the logic of randomization, clinical trials, the overuse of p-values, understanding effect sizes, meta-analysis and why clinical experience is limited by observational confounding bias. Featuring a wealth of clinical examples, on topics of high importance or controversy in psychiatry, plus explanations and reasoning, to give clinicians a better understanding of how to apply research to their practice.

1. Why data never speak for themselves
2. Why you cannot believe your eyes
3. Levels of evidence
4. Bias
5. Randomization
6. Clinical trials: improving on clinical experience
7. The p-value: uses and misuses
8. Forget p-values: the importance of effect sizes
9. Understanding placebo
10. Understanding confidence intervals
11. Observational studies
12. The alchemy of meta-analysis
13. Bayesian statistics: why your opinion counts
14. Causation
15. A philosophy of statistics
16. Evidence-based medicine: defense and criticism
17. Social and economic factors: peer review, funding, and the conventional wisdom
18. The new canon of psychopharmacology (STAR*D, STEP-BD, CATIE): how clinical trials are misinterpreted
19. False positive maintenance clinical trials in psychiatry
20. How to analyze a study
Appendix. Understanding regression
Index.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ]