Research Proposal Psychology Harvard
<University>
Research Proposal Paper
by
<Your Name>
26th August 2014
<Lecturer’s Name and Course Number>
Does Height Affect Depression in Individuals?
Abstract Many theories have that depression has evolved as an adaptation to adversity or defeat thus predictions stemming from these models is that individual attributes associated with defeat in a given social environment could be risk factors for depression. We hypothesize here that in individuals in today 's society where there are a lot of factors of importance in the existence of the human species, as Ingham (2014) puts it, "being too short OR too tall heightens risk of depression" as compared to the average height. Random sample of individuals in all the categories of height is to be considered and evaluated to see whether the hypothesis will pass.
Introduction Height and depression in a way go hand in hand that brings up the issue of "Does height affect depression in individuals?" Surprisingly, this question remains a matter of debate (Ambler et al., 2013) in many psychological societies. In particular, researchers cannot reach a consensus on whether short stature confers health and psychological disadvantages. Underwood (1991) established that short people of both genders are subject to stigmatization and prejudice. Conversely, tall stature is associated with perception of higher status and achievement (Jackson & Ervin; Lechelt, 1975). However, it remains unclear whether psychosocial stress associated with short stature leads to substantial depression. A number of large epidemiological studies have found short stature to be associated with poorer mental health (Cheung et al., 2013) and lower health-related quality of life ( Christensen et al., 2007). In addition, other studies have concluded that height has negligible effect on health-related quality of life ( Busschbach et al., 1997; Coste et al., 2012). Some studies on short stature children did not find them significantly
Research Proposal Paper
by
<Your Name>
26th August 2014
<Lecturer’s Name and Course Number>
Does Height Affect Depression in Individuals?
Abstract Many theories have that depression has evolved as an adaptation to adversity or defeat thus predictions stemming from these models is that individual attributes associated with defeat in a given social environment could be risk factors for depression. We hypothesize here that in individuals in today 's society where there are a lot of factors of importance in the existence of the human species, as Ingham (2014) puts it, "being too short OR too tall heightens risk of depression" as compared to the average height. Random sample of individuals in all the categories of height is to be considered and evaluated to see whether the hypothesis will pass.
Introduction Height and depression in a way go hand in hand that brings up the issue of "Does height affect depression in individuals?" Surprisingly, this question remains a matter of debate (Ambler et al., 2013) in many psychological societies. In particular, researchers cannot reach a consensus on whether short stature confers health and psychological disadvantages. Underwood (1991) established that short people of both genders are subject to stigmatization and prejudice. Conversely, tall stature is associated with perception of higher status and achievement (Jackson & Ervin; Lechelt, 1975). However, it remains unclear whether psychosocial stress associated with short stature leads to substantial depression. A number of large epidemiological studies have found short stature to be associated with poorer mental health (Cheung et al., 2013) and lower health-related quality of life ( Christensen et al., 2007). In addition, other studies have concluded that height has negligible effect on health-related quality of life ( Busschbach et al., 1997; Coste et al., 2012). Some studies on short stature children did not find them significantly
References: Ambler G. R., Fairchild J., Wilkinson D. J. (2013). Debate: Idiopathic short stature should be treated with growth hormone. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 49, 165- 169 Busschbach J., Rikken B., Grobbee D., De Charro F., Wit J Cheung Y. B., Wee H. L., Luo N., Tan C. B., Fong K. Y., Thumboo J.(2013). Height and mental health and health utility among ethnic Chinese in a polyclinic sample in Singapore. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 42, 73-79. Chase I. D., Tovey C., Spangler-Martin D., Manfredonia M. (2002). Individual differences versus social dynamics in the formation of animal dominance hierarchies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99, 5744-5749. Christensen T., Djurhuus C., Clayton P., Christiansen J. S. (2007). An evaluation of the relationship between adult height and health-related quality of life in the general UK population. Clinical Endocrinology, 67, 407-412. Coste J., Pouchot J., Carel J.-C. (2012). Height and health-related quality of life: A nationwide population study. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 97, 3231-3239 Downie A Ingham J. 2014, Height Linked to Depression, Being too short OR too tall heightens risk of depression in men 25 August, 2014, <http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/491109/Height-linked-to-depression> Jackson L Krupnik V. (2014). A novel therapeutic frame for treating depression in group Treating Depression Downhill. SAGE Open, 4, 1-12. doi:10.1177/2158244014523793 Lechelt E Underwood L. E. (1991). The social cost of being short: Societal perceptions and biases. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, Suppl., 377, 3-8.