Purpose of review: Biases are frequently invoked in psychopathology research, either as core features of particular forms of psychopathology or as errors and distortions that affect psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and research methodology. This review provides an overview of recent research on the forms of bias that are commonly examined in the field.
Recent findings: Recent research has made a number of advances in the analysis of cognitive and affective biases underpinning psychopathology: the effect of rating and other biases on psychiatric assessment and diagnosis; the role of race and gender in psychiatric practice; financial and institutional influences on psychiatric services; and several biases affecting research methodology, study design, and statistical inference.
Summary: Bias has several distinct meanings, and encompasses a disparate set of phenomena, so no over-arching conclusion about the place of bias in psychopathology research can be drawn. Recent work, however, makes solid progress toward a better understanding of systematic distortions and how they can be recognized and reduced.