An interactionist approach (Diathesis stress) Flashcards

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1
Q

Define the term “diathesis-stress model”

A

Explains mental disorders as the result of an interaction between biological (the diathesis) and environmental ( the stress) influences.

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2
Q

Outline what is meant by ‘diathesis’ in the interactionist approach?

A
  • schizophrenia caused due to genetic vulnerability.
  • Identical twin of a person with schizophrenia = higher risk than a sibling or fraternal twin
  • Adoptees don’t share the risk of biological relatives (Tienari et al.,2004)
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3
Q

What suggests that the environment plays a role in schizophrenia?

A
  • About 50% of identical twins where one has schizophrenia the other one doesn’t - discordance suggests environmental factors
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4
Q

What are the two ways in which stress can cause schizophrenia?

A
  • trauma

- highly urbanised environment.

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5
Q

Describe research about the link between trauma and schizophrenia

A
  • Varese et al (2012) - severe trauma before 16 = 3x more likely to develop schizophrenia
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6
Q

Describe research about the link between a highly urbanised environment and schizophrenia

A
  • Vassos et al (2012) - risk for schizophrenia = 2.37x more likely than a rural area.
  • densely populated area may be the cause?
  • The relationship between urban stress and schizophrenia is conditional on some other factor , i.e a pre-existing genetic risk for the disorder or some other biological vulnerability for schizophrenia.
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7
Q

Explain what is meant ‘the additive nature of diathesis and stress’

A
  • whatever the combination of whether it’s stressors or vulnerability, this idea pre-supposes additivity, i.e. that diathesis and stress add together in some way to produce the disorder
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8
Q

What did Tienari et al (2004) test?

A
  • that genetic factors moderate susceptibility to environmental risks associated with adoptive family functioning.
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9
Q

Outline the procedure of Tienari et al study

A
  • Nearly 20,000 women who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia at least once or another paranoid psychoses.
  • Out of these women, they found those mothers who had gave away their offspring
  • In total were 303: 145 = the high risk group and 158 = low risk group ( without genetic risk of schizophrenia).
  • Both groups of adopts were assessed after a median interval of 12 years, with a 21 year follow up.
  • Also families were assessed using OPAS ( measures family environment)
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10
Q

Outline the findings of Tienari et al study

A
  • Of 303 adoptees, 14 = schizophrenia.
  • Of the 14, 11 = high risk group, 3 = low risk group.
  • High genetic risk adoptees in ‘healthy family’ (Low OPAS rating) = less likely to get schizophrenia compared to high-genetic-risk adoptees reared in families with high OPAS ratings.
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11
Q

In what group (high genetic risk) or (low-genetic risk - control group) was adoptive-family stress a predictor in the development of schizophrenia?

A
  • in adoptees at high genetic risk.
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12
Q

AO3

How is the diathesis explanation reductionist?

A

P: Reductionist
E: Verdoux et al (1998) - risk of developing schizophrenia later in life for individuals who have experienced complications at birth e.g. prolonged labour - oxygen deprivation = 4x greater
E: contrasts with diathesis (genetic vulnerability) as birth complication = environmental factor.
E: problem with reductionism = oversimplifies point to just genetic ignoring other factors.
E: this matter because few may fail to prepare those families who have experienced birth complications for possible mental issues.

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13
Q

AO3

Does all research agree with the fact that urban environments links to the development of schizophrenia?

A

P: Vassos et al study - densely populated environment = stress factor = schizophrenia. Not all research agree with this.
E: Romans-Clarkson - found no urban-rural differences in mental health among women in New Zealand.
Other studies = found evidence but differences went away after adjusting the socio-economic differences in the two groups.
E: urbanisation and social adversity = trigger also = oversimplification.

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14
Q

AO3
Does stress differ among individuals and does the way an individual respond to stress make them more or less vulnerable to develop schizophrenia?

A

P: Stress leads to schizophrenia. However, stress early in life can influence how people respond to later stressful events and increase their future susceptibility to the disorder.
E: Hammen = maladaptive methods of coping with stress in childhood may lead to ineffective coping sills which may increase their vulnerability.
E: ineffective coping skills = make life more stressful for individual and so trigger mental illness.

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15
Q

AO3

What is the limitation of the adoption study conducted by Tienari et al?

A

P: Research - limitation of study - when assessing family functioning.
E: The use of the OPAS scale was in just one given time period. Doesn’t take into account developmental changes in family functioning over time (progress).
E: Observation of family and adoptees = hard = impossible to determine how much stress was caused by family or adoptees themselves.

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16
Q

AO3

Can the diathesis stress model be applicable to real life? And how?

A

P: Applicability - treatment - if schizophrenia is a result of additive effect of genetic vulnerability and environmental stress.
E: Genetic vulnerability - hard to control .
Borglum et al (2014) - women infected with cytomegalovirus during pregnancy were more likely to have a child who developed schizophrenia, but only if the mother carried a particular gene.
E: suggests that antiviral medicine during pregnancy may prevent the onset of schizophrenia in the offspring of women known to have this gene defect.