interactionist approach explaining schizophrenia Flashcards
strength (evidence for genetic vulnerability and triggers) DW
P: There is evidence to support the role of genetic vulnerability and stress in the development of schiz
E: Tienari et al found that children who experienced an environment with high levels of criticism and low levels of empathy were more likely to develop schizophrenia, but only if there was a high genetic risk of schiz
E: This suggests that both genetic vulnerability and family-related stress are important in the development of schiz and it shows the link between the biological risk and the family dysfunctional trigger
I: As children who are genetically vulnerable to schizophrenia are more sensitive to parenting behaviour, this may mean that families who have a history of schiz should receive education on how to change their behavior to reduce the chance of parenting techniques triggering schizophrenia
strength (evidence for psychological vulnerability and triggers) DW
P: There is evidence to support the role of psychological vulnerability and stress in the development of schizophrenia
E: Houston et al found that childhood sexual trauma emerged as a vulnerability factor whilst cannabis use was a trigger.
E: This shows that both biological and psychological factors can be viewed as a diathesis for schiz
I: This means that we should take a more modern
approach rather than the older versions of the diathesis stress model which believed that the diathesis had to be just biological and stressor psychological - it was too simplistic. If we use a modern approach we can try and stop the triggers before it gets worse
strength ( holistic explanation) DW
P: The interactionist approach of schiz is a more holistic explanation
E:It considers both biological and psychological factors such as genetics, trauma and smoking habits that can be implicated in the development of schiz
E: This is good as it indentifies that a wide range of factors could be involved in the illness rather than trying to reduce explanations down to genetics or maladaptive thoughts.
I: Therefore, because schiz is such a complex genetic disorder considering number of levels of explanation, from biological to psychological to cultural, it may be regarded as more appropriate when trying to explain the illness. We should take a more holistic treatment addressing both the biological and psychological side.
Limitation ( lack of clarity) DW
P: We do not fully understand how the combination of a vulnerability and stress can lead to schizophrenia .
E: There is evidence to suggest that there is a link between the two but there is no explanation of how the symptoms of schizophrenia are produced.
E: There could be another factor involved. Co-morbidity with depression and schiz- couldve co existed.
I: This means we cant be fully sure about the cause of schiz and we need be careful when diagnosing patients and make sure we don’t incorrectly diagnose them. Also, if we find out that they have another disorder to start off with we could use CBT and other treatments to stop that disorder from developing into schiz
