Sunday, September 27, 2009

Psychiatric Resident Conceptualizations of Mood and Affect within the Mental Status Examination

Serby, M. (2003). Psychiatric Resident Conceptualizations of Mood and Affect within the Mental Status Examination. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1527-1529.

In the Mental Status Exam (MSE), affect is conceptualized as "external, objective, visible emotional tone. It is also the moment-to-moment measure, while may be labile or constricted, congruent or not with expressed ideas, and may be varied during any interview." Mood, on the other hand, is conceptualized as "an internal, subjective, and sustained emotional state and should be reported as such". However, this study revealed that psychiatric residents do not typically abide strictly to these definitions. They tend to understand that mood is subjective/internal and affect is objective/external, but appear to be less focused on the temporal distinction between the two.

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