3.2.4.1.2 Changing incidence and cultural variation in beliefs about mental health problems Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 8

The 20 questions

1. What does 'cultural variation in beliefs about mental health problems' mean?

   • Mental health problems occur only in one country and nowhere else at all
   • Different cultures hold different views about what mental health problems are
   • Cultures never discuss mental health problems with each other in any way
   • All cultures agree on exactly the same causes of mental illness in every case

2. Which factor is most likely to explain why beliefs about mental health problems differ between cultures?

   • Differences in the average height of people across different regions
   • Different cultural norms and values that shape how problems are understood
   • Differences in the price of food in shops across different countries
   • Differences in the types of vehicles that people use for travel

3. Which statement about the incidence of mental health problems over time is most accurate?

   • Incidence has never been studied by psychologists or other researchers
   • Incidence can change over time as recognition and conditions in society change
   • Incidence depends only on the weather conditions in each individual year
   • Incidence is fixed and cannot change across different generations at all

4. What is meant by 'incidence' in this context?

   • The number of new cases of a mental health problem in a population over time
   • The average length of a person's working day across the year
   • The total number of hospital beds available in a country at one time
   • The percentage of people in a country who use a smartphone each day

5. Increased recognition of mental health problems can lead to:

   • Fewer people being aware that mental health problems exist in society
   • A reduction in the need for any health services at all in the community
   • A complete disappearance of all mental health problems from the population
   • More people seeking help, which may change the number of reported cases

6. A researcher finds reported rates of a problem rising after a public awareness campaign. Which explanation is most plausible?

   • Greater recognition may lead more people to report problems that were previously hidden
   • Reported rates always fall whenever a public awareness campaign is run
   • The problem has been completely eliminated from the population by the campaign
   • The campaign caused the problem to start in every family in the area

7. Which example best shows cultural variation in how mental health problems are explained?

   • Every culture explains a problem using an identical list of biological causes
   • Cultural beliefs have no effect on how people decide whether to seek help
   • One culture links a problem to spiritual causes, while another links it to biology
   • No culture holds any belief about why a mental health problem occurs at all

8. Why is it important to understand cultural variation when studying mental health?

   • Beliefs matter only for physical injuries and not for mental health problems
   • Beliefs shape how people describe symptoms and whether they seek treatment
   • Beliefs have no effect on the diagnosis or treatment of any illness at all
   • Beliefs are identical across all places so no study of them is needed

9. Which factor is least likely to explain a change in reported incidence over time?

   • Greater public awareness of the nature of mental health problems
   • A change in how people are encouraged to talk openly about their problems
   • Changes in the way problems are recognised by society and clinicians
   • The scanning technique used in brain research laboratories

10. A survey of two countries finds different views on whether a mental health problem is caused by bad luck or by the person. Which conclusion is best supported?

    • The survey proves that mental health problems are caused entirely by luck
    • Beliefs about mental health problems vary between cultures
    • The two countries have identical beliefs about the causes of mental health
    • Mental health problems do not exist at all in one of the two countries

11. Which best describes a cultural belief about mental health?

    • A measurement of the brain's electrical output taken from the scalp
    • A diagnosis given by a scanning technique after a detailed examination
    • An idea shared within a group about why a problem occurs and how to respond to it
    • A fact that is proven and identical across all populations in the world

12. Why might reported rates of a mental health problem rise without the true number of cases changing?

    • Reports are only ever made by doctors who work in hospitals and never by community staff
    • The true number of cases must always rise at the same time as the reported figures do
    • Improved recognition and willingness to report can increase the number of recorded cases
    • Recognition has little effect because services record only the true prevalence of the problem

13. Which is the best example of a change in incidence over time?

    • A person changing their opinion about a film they watched recently
    • One person recovering from an illness over the course of a single week
    • A rise in recorded cases of a condition across several decades
    • A single diagnosis that is repeated several times for one patient

14. A study compares attitudes towards mental health in two cultures. Which is the independent variable?

    • The attitude score recorded for each participant in the study
    • The number of participants included in each of the two groups
    • The culture that participants come from
    • The time taken by participants to complete the questionnaire

15. Which statement about increasing recognition of mental health problems is correct?

    • It can lessen stigma and encourage people to seek support
    • It has no link to the way people speak about their problems with others
    • It only affects people who work in hospitals and health services directly
    • It always increases stigma and discourages people from seeking any support

16. Why might cultural beliefs make some people reluctant to report symptoms?

    • They never experience any symptoms of mental health problems at all
    • They always want to report every symptom to strangers they meet online
    • They are unable to speak the language used in the health service
    • They may fear judgement or believe the problem should be kept private within the family

17. Which of the following is a reason rates of a problem could appear to change over decades?

    • Changes in the colour of the medical scanners used in hospitals
    • Changes in the number of cars that are on the road in each year
    • Changes in the diagnostic criteria used by clinicians over time
    • Changes in the speed of the internet connection at people's homes

18. Why is it harder to compare incidence across cultures than within one culture?

    • Each culture uses exactly the same measurement tools in every setting
    • Mental health problems only exist in one culture and nowhere else
    • Recording methods and beliefs may differ between cultures
    • Cultures never report any numbers about their health at all

19. A psychologist claims that 'all cultures view mental health problems in exactly the same way.' Which response is most accurate?

    • The claim is unsupported, because cultural beliefs about mental health vary
    • The claim is correct, because the incidence of problems never changes at all
    • The claim is correct, because cultural beliefs about mental health never differ
    • The claim is correct, because only one culture studies mental health properly

20. Which is a valid conclusion from evidence of changing incidence and cultural variation?

    • Culture has no link to how problems are understood or treated by people
    • Mental health problems need understanding within their social context
    • Incidence changes only in areas where there are no cultural differences at all
    • Mental health problems can be fully explained by one universal cause in all places

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