adoption studies and Heston

Question 1

What are adoption studies?

Answer 1

Looks at the impact of nature on children who are raised by parents who are not their biological parents.

Question 2

Who are adopted children compared to in adoption studies?

Answer 2

In these studies adopted children are compared to their biological parents and their adoptive parents. The child will share genetic traits with their biological parents and share the same environment as their adoptive parents.

Question 3

Why are adoption studies used?

Answer 3

Researchers can determine which traits are of genetic influence (nature/biological) and which are environmental influence (nurture)

Question 4

What does the term concordance rate mean in the context of adoption studies?

Answer 4

Concordance rate refers to the frequency or likelihood that an adopted child shares a specific trait or condition which their biological or adoptive parent.

Question 5

What would we expect to find in concordance rates if schizophrenia has a genetic component?

Answer 5

We would expect as higher concordance rate for schizophrenia between offspring and their biological parents compared to heir adoptive parents

Question 6

What are 2 strengths for adoption studies?

Answer 6

They’re a useful way of separating genes from the environment. Means we can assume similarities due to environmental similarities.

They allow for trends in behaviour to be studies. Adoption studies tend to use the longitudinal method, meaning they follow the same group of children over long periods. These trends in behaviour can be linked to genetic influences.

Question 7

What are two weaknesses for adoption studies?

Answer 7

Lacking in validity. Children tend to be placed in families like their own, so their birth family and adopted family set very closely matched. The adopting environment may be like the environment of birth parents.

It lacks generalisability. Only certain types of families are accepted as adopters of children. Therefore, this would be less representative.

Question 8

What was the aim of Heston study?

Answer 8

To see how many adopted children of biological mothers with schizophrenia would go on to develop schizophrenia themselves.

Question 9

What was the sample for Heston?

Answer 9

50 adopted people born between 1915-1945 to schizophrenic mothers.
They were selected if mothers had:
-diagnosed schizophrenia
-no diseases
-put the child up for adoption
-evidence of consistent behaviour with schizophrenia
-the mother and child were separated.

Question 10

What was the matched group?

Answer 10

50 adopters whose mothers were believed to be mentally healthy.

Question 11

How were the participants invited to the study?

Answer 11

Researches sent letters to their homes.

Question 12

Why did the adults have to be interviewed?

Answer 12

To see if they had schizophrenia themselves.

Question 13

Where were the interviews conducted?

Answer 13

At home - extraneous variable.

Question 14

What format was used for the interviews?

Answer 14

Standardised interviews, but interviewers followed any promising leads.

Question 15

What type of questionnaire was used to gather additional information and what dimensions did it cover?

Answer 15

A general medical and environmental questionnaire was used to explore psychosocial dimensions.

Question 16

Which personality inventory was administered after the interview?

Answer 16

Short form of MMPI Was given after the interviews.

Question 17

What happened after the interview to find the results?

Answer 17

-Two psychiatrists independently reviewed information on each participant.
-They excluded genetic and institutional data.
-A third researcher made the final evaluation.
-Each participant received a score from 100 to o, indicating increasing psycho-social disability, based on MHSRS.

Question 18

What was the risk of developing schizophrenia if one parent had it?

Answer 18

10%

Question 19

What was the rationale of this study?

Answer 19

If there was no genetic influence on schizophrenia,we would expect that none or perhaps one of the people with a biological mother of schizophrenia to go on to develop the condition.

Question 20

What was the results?

Answer 20

5 of the adults interviewed (1 female,4 males) had been hospitalised for schizophrenia and 3 of these were chronically ill and had been hospitalised for years. The other two were hospitalised and were taking antipsychotic drugs.

This shows the hypothesis of the fact that 10% would develop schizophrenia was right.

Question 21

What were the results of the control group?

Answer 21

None of the control group developed schizophrenia, indicating the experience of adoption was not a factor in schizophrenia.

Question 22

What was the diagnosis on schizophrenia based on?

Answer 22

Generally accepted standards.

Question 23

How was the generalisability of Heston study?

Answer 23

Is was good as they studies people born to schizophrenic mothers and those born to mentally healthy mothers, this is good for comparison.

Some sectors were poor as they were all born in Oregon USA so is not reflective of adoption and schizophrenia in other countries.

Question 24

How was the reliability of Heston study?

Answer 24

Good as they used MMPI and MHSRS. These are both standardised tests so would have been testing both groups consistently.

Question 25

Where can we apply Hestons study?

Answer 25

This study could lead to early intervention treatments for those who have been adopted but born to mothers with schizophrenia as they have an increased likelihood of developing the disorder.

Question 26

How is the validity of hestons study?

Answer 26

Low validity as some of the individuals could have lied during the interviews as they didnt want researchers to work out that they are experiencing symptoms of a disorder.
(Lower validity-social desirability bias.)

Question 27

How were the ethics of Hestons study?

Answer 27

They were poor as it could’ve caused psychological harm when they discover that their biological mother has schizophrenia.

Question 28

What is a weakness of hestons study?

Answer 28

There was a lack of control over participants early life experiences before adoption, which may have influenced the studies findings.

Some participants may have been exposed to neglect or abuse before adoption, which could affect the likelihood of developing schizophrenia.

This reduces the study’s internal validity as it leaves open the possibility that environmental factors (trauma) influenced the results.

Question 29

What is one strength of hestons study?

Answer 29

It was conducted ethically ensuring that all participants have informed consent before taking part.

Participants were contacted via letter, asking if they were willing to participate in the study, and those who agrreeed provided informed consent.

By doing this he upheld ethical standards, ensuring that participants were fully aware if their involvement and rights.

This makes the study more credible and respectful of participants autonomy.