interactionist approach

Question 1

what are some strengths of the interactionist approach?

Answer 1

1. evidence supporting the role of both vulnerability and triggers
   - Tienari - the impact of genetic vulnerability and a psychological trigger
   - a high genetic risk group were compared to a control group without a family history of schizophrenia
   - adoptive parents were assessed for child-rearing style and found high levels of criticism, hostility and low levels of empathy were strongly associated with the development of schizophrenia but only in the high genetic risk group
   - shows that a combination of genetic vulnerability and family stress can lead to an increased risk of schizophrenia
2. another strength is the combination of biological and psychological treatments
   - the fact that the combination of both treatments are more effective than either shows that there is a practical advantage to adopting an interactionist approach

Question 2

what are some weaknesses of the interactionist approach?

Answer 2

2. limitation of the original diathesis stress model is oversimplicity
   - portrayed diathesis as a single schizogene and stress as schizophrenogenic parenting
   - multiple genes in multiple combinations influence diathesis
   - stress can come in many forms as well and not limited to dysfunctional parenting
   - now believed that vulnerability is the result of early trauma as well as genetic make up and stress can also be biological
   this shows there are multiple factors that support the modern understanding of diathesis and stress