Interactionist Apprch in Explaining and treating SZ Flashcards
Give intro to Interactionist Apprch
- suggests that sz is developed due to a combination of biological 🧬psychological and social factors
- This is known as the diathesis-stress model.
Define Diathesis
Vulnerability (at risk)
Define Stress
A negative psychological
experience
Describe Meehls Original
In Meehl’s original diathesis stress model, diathesis (vulnerability) was entirely genetic 🧬 It was down to a single ‘schizo-gene’, which made somebody sensitive to stress.
Meehl suggested that if a person does not have this schizo-gene 🧬 then no amount of stress would lead to schizophrenia.
However, if you have the gene, stress through childhood, such as having a schizophrenogenic mother could lead to sz
What is now believed that there is no schizo gene
many genes that increase generic vulnerability to schizophrenia (polygenic).
What is believed about factors other than genes can be diathesis
- such as psychological trauma.
- Early and severe enough trauma, such as child abuse can seriously affect aspects of brain development and can make a person more vulnerable to later stress.
What is modern definition of stress
Moreover, a modern definition of stress (trigger) includes anything that risks triggering sz not just parenting
What has much of the recent research concerned?
- cannabis use 🍃
- in terms of diathesis model cannabis is the stressor as ⬆️ risk of sz by up to x7 according to the dose
- prob due to interference w dopamine system
- not everyone devs sz after smoking cannabis suggesting must be 1 or more vulnerability factors
What does interactionist model consider
> both biological and psychological factors in the development of sz, it is therefore compatible with both biological and psychological treatments for schizophrenia.
> In particular, the combination of antipsychotic medication and psychological therapies most commonly CBT.
What did Turkington argue?
that it is possible to believe in biological causes of schizophrenia and still practise CBT to relieve psychological symptoms.
However, this requires adopting an interactionist model.
It is not possible to adopt a purely biological approach and tell the patient their condition is purely biological and that there is no psychological significance to symptoms, and then to treat them with CBT.
What are treatments like in the UK
🇬🇧 often combined family therapy CBT and drug therapy 💊
Give RTS Interactionist Model
P - Tienari et al (2004)
E - followed up 19,000 adopted children in 🇫🇮 Finland whose mothers had schizophrenia and compared them to a control group of adopted children without any genetic risk
E - The child rearing styles of the adoptive parents were observed. Those children who were brought up in families with a lot of conflict and low empathy (family dysfunction) were much more likely to develop schizophrenia but only in the children who had a genetic vulnerability, not the control group.
L - This suggests that both genetic vulnerability and family related stress are important in the development of sz
Give a Limitation of Interactionist Apprch
P - Individual Differences
E - eg two ppl may have the same vuln and stressor but one may not dev sz
L - we do not have full understanding of Interactionist apprch more R needs to be conducted
Give a second RTS
P - Tarrier
E - 315 patients were randomly allocated to treatment conditions
E - patients given combination therapy of medication and CBT/counselling had lower symptoms than control group w just one treatment
L - suggests by adopting an interactionist apprch and using both biological and psychological therapies patients sz’s symps treated more effectively
How can Tarriers Research may not he correct
P - Jarvis and Okami (2019) point out that just because combining both biological and psychological treatments is more effective in treating sz, does not mean that it is this interaction of the two that causes schizophrenia.
E - This logical error is known as the ‘treatment-causation fallacy’ and is a limitation of the interactionist approach to explaining and treating sz
