3 - Causal Factors & Viewpoints Flashcards
What are proximal and distal causal factors?
- proximal: causal factor which operates shortly before occurrence of symptoms of disorder
- distal: causal factors which may not show their effects for many years
What are risk factors, and why do many investigators prefer this term to causes?
• variables correlated w/ abnormal outcome(s)
• attempting to understand anyone’s life in causal terms is a huge undertaking b/c of the fact that even the simplest action is predicated by thousands of prior events
* understanding causes is still the ultimate goal
What is a reinforcing contributory cause?
Condition that tends to maintain an existing maladaptive behaviour
• eg attention, sympathy, & relief from unwanted responsibility when ill -> discourage recovery
• eg depressed behaviour ->
alienation -> sense of rejection -> deepened depression
When do we use the term “causal pattern”?
When there is more than causal factor involved
Why is it difficult to distinguish between what is cause & what is effect?
Effects can serve as feedback that can in turn influence causes (ie there is often bidirectionality)
Describe diasthesis and stress in terms of causal factors.
• both can be necessary/contributory; neither is sufficient
- diasthesis = distal
- stress(or) = proximal
Name two diasthesis-stress models and describe them.
- additive - diasthesis & stress sum together; high diasthesis may need only low stress, low diasthesis may need high stress (someone with no diasthesis can still develop a disorder w/ very high stress
- interactive - some amount of diasthesis must be present for stress to have an effect; higher diasthesis increases likelihood of developing disorder w/ increasing levels of stress
What three things are important to remember about protective factors?
- not beneficial to people w/o risk factors [not sure I agree with this entirely…]
- not necessarily positive experiences (stressful experiences can have a “steeling” or “inoculation” effect; more likely w/ moderate stressors than mild or extreme ones)
- not always experiences; sometimes qualities or attributes of the person
What contributes to resilience?
Protective factors, especially fundamental systems of adaptation
• intelligence & cognitive development
• ability to self-regulate
• motivation to achieve mastery
• effective parenting
• well-functioning neurobiological systems for handling stress
When do problems tend to arise?
- when one or more systems of adaptation are weak to begin with
- when a serious stressor damages one or more of these systems
What three things are important to remember about resilience?
- not an all-or-none capacity
- resilient people may still experience considerable self-reported emotional distress
- resilience may exist in one domain but not others
Why do diasthesis-stress models need to be considered as multicausal developmental models?
- in the course of development, a child may acquire a variety of cumulative risk factors that may interact in determining their risk for psychopathology
- may also interact w/ a variety of protective processes, & sometimes w/ stressors, to determine whether the child develops in a normal & adaptive way throughout life
What is important to remember about viewpoints for understanding causes of abnormal behaviour?
- each helps researchers to organize observations made within a system of thought
- each suggests areas of focus for research
- each is a theoretical construction designed to orient psychologists in the study of abnormal (& normal) behaviour
What three shifts in focus of abnormal psychology seem to have been occurring in recent years?
- newer, slightly different biological viewpoint having significant impact (especially in psychiatry & clinical science)
- behavioural & cognitive-behavioural viewpoints have become influential w/ empirically-oriented clinical psychologists & some psychiatrists
- sociocultural viewpoint has gained interest
Name four categories of biological factors.
- neurotransmitter & hormonal abnormalities (in brain or other parts of CNS)
- genetic vulnerabilities
- temperament
- brain dysfunction & neural plasticity
What are two important things to remember about biological factors?
- they can interact w/ each other
* affect different people differently (play different roles in different people)
Name three ways that neurotransmitter imbalances can be created.
- excessive production & release of neurotransmitter into synapses
- dysfunction in normal processes* of deactivation of neurotransmitters (*usually reuptake or degradation via enzymes)
- problems w/ receptors in postsynaptic neuron (abnormally sensitive or insensitive)
What are the two effects that neurotransmitters can have on the postsynaptic neuron?
- to initiate an impulse
* to inhibit impulse transmission
What are the two ways neurotransmitters are removed from the synapse?
- destroyed by enzymes (eg monoamine oxidase)
* reuptake (reabsorption into axon ending)
What effects can medications have on synapses?
- block reuptake process
- alter sensitivity of receptor sites
- affecting actions of enzymes that break down neurotransmitters
What are the two categories of medications that affect synaptic activity?
- agonists - facilitate effects of neurotransmitters on postsynaptic neurons
- antagonists - oppose or inhibit effects of neurotransmitters or postsynaptic neurons
What are the five kinds of neurotransmitters that have been studied extensively in relation to psychopathology?
• norepinephrine - emergency reactions, attention, orientation, basic motives
• dopamine - pleasure, cognitive processing; schizophrenia, addiction
• serotonin - processing info from environment, behaviour, mood; emotional disorders
• glutamate
• GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid)
** first three are monoamines **
What are two types of chemical imbalances?
- neurotransmitter imbalance
* hormonal imbalance
Explain the three steps involved in the activation of the HPA axis.
- Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) travels from hypothalamus to pituitary
- Pituitary releases adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) -> stimulates cortical part of adrenal gland to produce epinephrine (adrenaline) & cortisol
- Cortisol provides negative feedback to hypothalamus & pituitary to decrease release of CRH & ACTH
What disorders have been associated with malfunctioning of the negative feedback in the HPA axis?
- depression
* PTSD
What other endocrine system gland can contribute to maladaptive behaviour?
Gonads (ovaries or testes) - ie imbalances in sex hormones
To what extent do genetic factors influence behaviour and mental disorders?
- not exclusive determinant of either
* most mental disorders show at least some genetic influence
When do genetic sources of vulnerability manifest?
- some in infancy
* some not until adolescence or adulthood (when most mental disorders appear for the first time)
What is important to remember about genetic vulnerability to mental disorders?
- almost always polygenic; usually the person has inherited a large number of polymorphisms of genes that work together (in an additive or interactive fashion) to increase vulnerability
- genes relating to mental disorder & behaviour rarely express in a straightforward manner b/c behaviour results from organism’s interaction w/ the environment (ie genes only act indirectly)
What are three important ways in which an individual’s genotype can shape their environment?
- passive effect - genetic similarities of parents to children; parents create environments which will interact with the child’s genome
- evocative effect - eliciting reactions from social & physical environment
- active effect - gives inclination to seek out or build an environment that is congenial (aka “niche building”)
Name two examples of how environment can affect phenotype through susceptibilities in genotype.
- phenylalanine sensitivity causing mental retardation in some children
- major life stressors (4+) correlating w/ depression 2x as often in one genetic variation over another
What three primary methods have been traditionally used in behaviour genetics?
- family history (pedigree) method
- twin method
- adoption method
Give two terms used for an individual who possesses a trait or disorder of interest.
- proband
* index case
What is the main limitation of the family history method?
People who are more closely related genetically also tend to share more similar environments
Why can we safely conclude that no mental disorders are completely heritable?
Because no forms of psychopathology in the DSM have high (near 100%) concordance rate
What is one counter argument to the idea that differences in concordance rates among monozygotic & dizygotic twins indicates genetic contribution?
Possible that parents and others treat identical twins more similarly than fraternal twins (for this reason, it is ideal for identical twins being studied to have been raised in different environments)
Describe two variations of the adoption method.
- comparing biological parents of adopted individuals w/ disorder to the biological parents of those w/o the disorder
- comparing offspring of individuals w/ & w/o a disorder who have given their children up for adoption