Heston (1966) adoptive study

Question 1

give 5 examples of the sample

Answer 1

born between 1915-45

schizophrenic mothers

47 ppts (16 dropped out for various reasons)

matched on variables such as sex, type of placement and length of time in child care

50 control ppts

Question 2

what is the aim of the study

Answer 2

The aim was to investigate whether nature or nurture was responsible for the development of schizophrenia by using an adoption study to separate out those factors

Question 3

what different sources were used to asses psychiatric status (3 ways)

Answer 3

medical records
police records
personal interviews (25/97 refused or weren’t available)

Question 4

how many psychiatrist were involved

Answer 4

2

Question 5

when was a diagnosis pf schizophrenia given

Answer 5

once all 3 raters agreed and was diagnosed by a psychiatric hospital

Question 6

give 2 examples of results

Answer 6

the rate of schizophrenia on those born to schizophrenic mothers was 10.6% compared with 0% in those not born to schizophrenic individuals

differences in psycho-disability, discharge in armed forces and crime

Question 7

what did the study overall support

Answer 7

inheritance of genes increased schizophrenia and psycho-disability