Temporal Changes in Severity and Complexity of Psychological Symptoms: A Quantitative Investigation of Mental Disorders Within a Dutch Mental Health Sample

Severity and complexity of psychological symptoms and mental disorders are concepts directly related to treatment complications and overall issues with the successful rates of psychotherapy. While previously proven stable over the course of time, findings from recent years have discovered an increase in severity and complexity of mental disorders in a sample of Dutch mental healthcare patients. The present paper aimed to primarily investigate the existence of the potential trend of severity and complexity changes over time and subsequently explore its directionality. The data used extended further than previous populations of university students from different countries and instead examined mental health clinic patients in the Netherlands. The severity and complexity of three disorders of interest, namely Substance Use Disorder, Personality Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, were analyzed. Severity and complexity of psychological symptoms were operationalized using self...Show moreSeverity and complexity of psychological symptoms and mental disorders are concepts directly related to treatment complications and overall issues with the successful rates of psychotherapy. While previously proven stable over the course of time, findings from recent years have discovered an increase in severity and complexity of mental disorders in a sample of Dutch mental healthcare patients. The present paper aimed to primarily investigate the existence of the potential trend of severity and complexity changes over time and subsequently explore its directionality. The data used extended further than previous populations of university students from different countries and instead examined mental health clinic patients in the Netherlands. The severity and complexity of three disorders of interest, namely Substance Use Disorder, Personality Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, were analyzed. Severity and complexity of psychological symptoms were operationalized using self-report symptom questionnaires and a comorbidity index, respectively. Patients from two separate clinics were analyzed, comparing individuals assessed in 2017 with those of 2023. Statistical analyses such as t-tests, chi-square tests, and linear regressions were run in SPSS to assess for statistical significance. Results showed that severity changes appeared in line with the hypothesis and most recent findings, showing a significant increase over time, while complexity changes were contrary to expectations and significantly decreased across the years. Future research should build atop this quantitative research and investigate in more qualitative manners the possible underlying mechanisms associated with the observed changes.Show less

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Temporal Changes in Severity and Complexity of Psychological Symptoms: A Quantitative Investigation of Mental Disorders Within a Dutch Mental Health Sample