Week 4: Public Opinions

Welcome back to my blog! This past week was hectic with college-related travel. I didn’t have as much time to work on my project as I would have liked. With this said, I still made significant progress. As I stated last week, I planned to investigate the statistics for test accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, false positive rates, false negative rates, test accuracy rate) of the GAD-7. I also began to aggregate the information I found on my Google Form, which I sent out to the public.  

I started by defining key test accuracy metrics. Through the article “Foundational Statistical Principles in Medical Research: Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value, and Negative Predictive Value,” I was able to find a definition for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, FPR, FNR, and general test accuracy rates. With this information, I am now able to evaluate the effectiveness of the GAD-7 scale, compare the test accuracy of the GAD-7 with other assessment tools used for diagnosing anxiety disorders, and further expand my understanding of test accuracy metrics. 

As stated last week, I began rolling out my questionnaire to the general public. I did so through multiple social media sources, as I believed this would give me a better sense of the general public. So far, I have conjured up roughly 20 responses, with the general age range being 14–21 and the gender ratio slightly more male than female. Overall, my findings were quite insightful, as I was able to gain a better understanding of what the average person knows about mental health. In this questionnaire, I ask questions such as, “What are some common misconceptions you believe people have about mental health?” and “What are some limitations you might think therapy has?” There were quite a variety of responses, as a few individuals discussed a possible limitation being that the patient could lie or simply not feel comfortable sharing everything. Responses like these allow me to understand how I can specifically tailor my conclusions to the general public. 

Over the next week, I plan on beginning to read “Current Theoretical Models of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Conceptual Review and Treatment Implications,” start interviewing individuals, and garner more responses on my questionnaire. Thank you all for reading my blog, and I will update you all next week!