Family dysfunction Flashcards
What does the psychodynamic explanation of schizophrenia state?
This explanation states that growing up in a disturbed family is at the root of mental disorders like schizophrenia
What does the psychodynamic explanation of schizophrenia suggest about families with unhealthy relationships?
The psychodynamic theory suggests that schizophrenia appears in families who display unhealthy relationships and dysfunctional patterns of communication. This leads to stress and then symptoms of schizophrenia.
What are parents like in a dysfunctional family?
Display high levels of personal conflict (arguments) = family schism
Have difficulty communicating with each other
Are excessively critical and controlling
What is the double bind theory?
Bateson (1956)
Children receive confusing, and sometimes contradictory messages from their parents with respect to love and praise. A verbal message is given but the opposite behaviour is displayed.
This leaves the child feeling like they cannot do the right thing, they feel confused, lacking in confidence and so they withdraw socially. Affective flattening, disorganised thinking and paranoia all are then displayed.
What is expressed emotion?
Another feature of the theory of family dysfunction is expressed emotion. Families who persistently show criticism and hostility have a negative impact on individuals who already have schizophrenia. Emotional over-involvement is also an example of high EE. Shifting alliances within the household are linked to paranoia.
High EE → Stress → Relapse
What research did Bateson do?
Bateson reported a case study where a recovering schizophrenic was visited in hospital by his mother.
He embraced her warmly, but she stiffened, and when he withdrew his arms, she said:
‘Don’t you love me anymore?’
To which he blushed and she commented:
‘Dear, you must not be so easily embarrassed and afraid of your feelings’
She then left
He then assaulted a nurse and had to be restrained.
This gives support to the idea of double blind.
What did research prior to the 1970s show about schizophrenia?
Research prior to the 1970’s supported the view that SZ was most commonly found in dysfunctional families
What did Berger find?
Berger (1965) found that SZ reported a higher recall of double-bind statements by their mothers than non-SZ
What did Liem find?
Liem (1974) found no difference in patterns of parental communication between families with and without SZ children
What did Patino establish?
7 problems associated with family dysfunction
What are 4 of the 7 problems associated with family dysfunction?
- Poor relationship between adults in the household
- Lack of warmth between parent and child
- Parental overprotection
- Child abuse
What did Patino find about migrants?
They found that migrants who had experienced at least 3 of these problems had 4x the normal level of vulnerability to developing SZ, compared with the double level of risk for migrants not experiencing family dysfunction.
This suggests that family dysfunction increases the likelihood of life stressors triggering the onset of schizophrenia.
What did Brown do?
Brown (1972) showed that patients with SZ were more likely to relapse if they returned to homes characterised by high levels of EE (hostility, resentment, criticism or over concern) than to homes with low EE.
What did Kavanagh do?
Kavanagh (1992) reviewed 26 studies of expressed emotion, finding that the mean relapse rate for SZ who returned to live with high EE families was 48% compared to 21% for those returning to low EE families.
This supports the idea that EE increases the risk of relapse for recovering schizophrenia.
Why have people criticised Bateson’s double bind theory of?
Bateson’s idea of double bind was initially popular, but some have accused him of selective bias in focusing on only some aspects of interviews that supported his claims, this supported with more recent evidence that supports
a genetic link, has lessened support for the idea
What did Tienari do?
Tienari (2004) found that the level of SZ in adopted individuals who were the biological children of SZ mothers was 5.5% in those adopted by healthy families, compared with 36.8% in children raised in dysfunctional families
