Adoption Studies Flashcards
1
Q
What was the aim of the study?
A
- To see how many adopted children of biological mothers with schizophrenia would go on to develop schizophrenia themselves.
2
Q
What was the procedure?
A
- Experimenters born between 1915 and 1945 to schizophrenic mothers confined to an Oregon State psychiatrist hospital.
- Children had been adopted at birth
- A matched group of 50 adoptees whose mothers were believed to be mentally healthy were also identified
- control subjects were matched for sex, type of eventual placement and for length of time in child care
- As the subjects were located, they were contacted by letter and asked to participate in a personal interview
- The adults were ordered to see whether any of them had gone to develop schizophrenia themselves, which added to the possible observations
- The information was compiled on each subject
- A final evaluation was then made by a third researcher.
- A control group was essential to eliminate the possibility that adoption itself might be responsible for schizophrenia.
3
Q
What were the results?
A
- out of the 47 adults, five had been hospitalized with schizophrenia
- three of these were chronically ill
- 10% of the adopted children of schizophrenia mothers developed schizophrenia.
- none of the control group developed schizophrenia - indication adoption was not a factors
- one female and four males comprised the schizophrenic group - three were chronic deteriorated patients who has been hospitalized for several years
- the other two had been hospitalized and were taking anti psychotics
4
Q
What was the conclusion?
A
- The results provided powerful evidence for the role of genes in schizophrenia.
- No evidence emerged from this study of any role at all for environment factors in the development of schizophrenia.
