Interactionism/diathesis-stress model Flashcards
Explain the interactionist approach in terms of explaining schizophrenia
an approach that acknowledges that there are biological and psychological/societal factors that contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Biological factors include: Genetic Vulnerability, Neurochemical Abnormality and Neurological Abnormality. Psychological/Societal factors include: Stress and poor quality family interactions.
Explain the diathesis stress model in terms of explaining schizophrenia
Diathesis – Underlying vunerability can be biological (polygenic) or psychological (early/severe trauma affects developing brain)
Stress – the ‘trigger’ for the development of schizophrenia.In Meehls (1962) original model, Diathesis was also Biological and stress was always Psychological/Societal. But modern understanding is stress can be result of any 3 factors e.g cannabis triggering ‘stress’ factor increasing Sz rates X7 could be result of interfering with dopamine system.
Pro: supporting evidence Interactionist/diathesis stress model
Tienari et al (2004)-assessed adopted children whose biological mother had schizophrenia compared to control group of adoptees without any genetic risk. He found that parenting style characterised as high levels of criticism and conflict with low levels of empathy was implicated in the development of the disorder but only for the children with high genetic risk and not in the control group. This suggests that both genetic vulnerability and family-related stress are important in the development of schizophrenia and that poor parenting could be a possible source of stress.
Pro of diathesis: supporting evidence
Varese (2012)-found that children who experienced severe trauma before age of 16 were 3x as likely to develop schizophrenia later in life compared to the general population. There was also a relationship between the level of trauma and the likelihood of developing schizophrenia, with those severely traumatised as children being at a higher risk. This suggests that the early trauma is a diathesis meaning the person is vulnerable to developing Sz later due to their early experience. The fact that they developed Sz was due to the presence of a stress trigger later in life.
Pro of interactionism: supporting evidence
Although there is evidence to suggest Sz is caused by genetic inheritance, MZ twin concordance rates for schizophrenia rise above 50%, supporting the idea that environmental factors must also play a role in determining whether a biological vulnerability actually develops into the disorder. This supports an interactionist view when explaining the development of Sz.
pro of treatment according to the interactionist approach: supporting evidence
Tarrier (2004)-studied 315 patients who were randomly allocated to either 1. Medication & CBT, 2. Medication & Counselling, or 3. Control group (Medication only). Tarrier found symptom levels were lower in both combination groups compared to the control group although there was no difference in rates of hospital readmission. This clearly demonstrates the benefits of adopting an interactionist approach (holistic) when treating schizophrenia.
con of treatment according to the interactionist approach:
A problem with using a combination of treatments for schizophrenia is that it is difficult to assess which treatment is the most successful. Despite supporting evidence that a combination of antipsychotics and CBT is the most effective treatment for schizophrenia, it’s uncertain which of these therapies is having the greatest effect. In addition, just because a treatment is effective does not mean that the cause was biological or psychological (depending on the treatment you are considering).
why is an interactionist approach compatible for schizophrenia treatments?
It acknowledges both biological and psychological factors in schizophrenia so therefore compatible with both biological and psychological treatments. The model would recommend to combine antipsychotic medication and psychological therapies (most commonly CBT).
