Psychiatric Research Glossary
100 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026
placebo response rate
The percentage of patients in the placebo group who show clinically meaningful improvement during a trial.
adjunctive therapy
Additional treatment given alongside an existing primary therapy to enhance therapeutic effects or address residual symp...
adverse event
Any unfavorable medical occurrence in psychiatric research participants, regardless of suspected relationship to study t...
AIMS
A standardized assessment tool used to detect and monitor abnormal involuntary movements, particularly tardive dyskinesi...
akathisia
A movement disorder characterized by restlessness and inability to remain still, often caused by antipsychotic medicatio...
augmentation strategy
Addition of a second medication to enhance the efficacy of an existing psychiatric treatment.
baseline severity stratification
Randomization approach that ensures treatment groups are balanced across different levels of symptom severity at study e...
Beck Depression Inventory
A self-report questionnaire measuring depression severity, commonly abbreviated as BDI-II in psychiatric research litera...
blinding integrity
The maintenance of masked treatment allocation throughout a clinical trial to prevent bias.
BPRS
A standardized rating scale used to assess the severity of psychiatric symptoms in clinical trials and research.
CANTAB
Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, a computerized cognitive assessment platform.
ceiling effect
A measurement limitation where participants score at or near the maximum possible score, preventing detection of further...
CGI-S
A single-item clinician rating scale that assesses overall illness severity on a 7-point scale.
clinical equipoise
Genuine uncertainty within the medical community about the relative merits of different treatment options.
Clinical Global Impression
A brief clinician-rated assessment of psychiatric patients' illness severity and improvement, commonly used as CGI in re...
clinical remission
Achievement of minimal symptom levels on standardized rating scales, indicating substantial recovery from psychiatric il...
cognitive battery
A standardized collection of neuropsychological tests designed to assess multiple cognitive domains.
cognitive remediation
Behavioral training interventions designed to improve cognitive functioning in patients with psychiatric disorders.
Cohen's d
A statistical measure of effect size commonly used in psychiatric research to quantify the magnitude of treatment differ...
comorbidity
The simultaneous presence of two or more psychiatric or medical conditions in a research participant, affecting study de...
crossover design
A clinical trial methodology where participants receive multiple treatments in sequential periods, serving as their own...
discontinuation syndrome
A cluster of symptoms occurring after abrupt cessation or significant dose reduction of psychiatric medications.
dose titration
Systematic adjustment of medication dosage based on tolerability and efficacy to achieve optimal therapeutic benefit.
dose-response relationship
Association between drug dosage and magnitude of therapeutic effect or adverse events.
double-blind
A study design where neither participants nor researchers know which treatment group participants are assigned to, preve...