interactionist approach to schizophrenia Flashcards
what is the diathesis stress model?
-a way of presenting the interactionist approach
what does diathesis mean in the diathesis-stress model?
-underlying vulnerability
what does stress mean in the diathesis-stress model?
-negative experience
what does the diathesis-stress model say is needed for schizophrenia to develop?
-both a vulnerability to schizophrenia and a stress trigger
what is the diathesis-stress model/ interactionist approach also known as?
biosocial approach
what are the equations for the diathesis-stress model?
high vulnerability + low stress = schizophrenia
low vulnerability + high stress= schizophrenia
What was diathesis in Meehl’s model?
-one ‘schizo-gene’
-without this, no amount of stress could cause schizophrenia
Who created the original diathesis-stress model for schizophrenia?
-Meehl
What was stress in Meehl’s model?
-chronic stress in childhood and adolescence, in particular a schizophrenogenic mother
What is stress in the modern diathesis-stress model?
-anything that risks triggering schizophrenia
What is diathesis in the modern diathesis-stress model?
-schizophrenia is caused by as many as 108 genetic variations that can increase vulnerability
What is an example of stress in the modern diathesis-stress model?
-smoking cannabis
What is an example of diathesis in the modern diathesis-stress model?
-an overactive HPA system
-mother having the flu while pregnant, causing trauma to the fetus
How is schizophrenia treated following the interactionist model? How does this compare across countries?
-a combination of biological and psychological treatments i.e CBT and anti-psychotics
-In the UK a combination is used, but in Americas they use a biological approach and mainly use anti-psychotics
what are the strengths of adopting an interactionist approach when looking at schizophrenia?
-support for the dual role of diathesis and stress in schizophrenia
-support for usefulness of an interactionist approach
-support for value of combined treatment
what is the limitation of adopting an interactionist approach when looking at schizophrenia?
-model is too simplistic
Explain the strength of the interactionist approach that there is support for the dual role of diathesis and stress in schizophrenia?
-Tienari found a child-rearing style characterized by high levels of criticism and conflict and low levels of empathy was implicated in SZ development, but only for children with high genetic risk (parent with SZ)
-this suggests that both genetic vulnerability and family-related stress are important in SZ development
-this is very strong direct support for importance of adopting an interactionist approach to SZ
Explain the strength of the interactionist approach that there is support for usefulness of an interactionist approach?
-Tarrier (2004) found that patients allocated to receive medication and CBT showed lower symptom levels than those in the control group allocated to only receive medication.
-therefore, those receiving a combination of biological and psychological treatments benefited more than those who only received biological treatment
-studies like this show that there is a clear practical advantage of adopting an interactionist approach in the form of superior treatment outcomes, therefore highlighting the importance of taking this type of approach
Explain the strength of the interactionist approach that there is support for the value of combined treatment?
-Guo et al (2010) reported that patients in the early stages of schizophrenia who receive a combination of antipsychotics and psychological therapy have improved insight, quality of life and social relapse than those taking antipsychotics alone.
-HOWEVER the fact that combined treatments are more effective than either on their own does not necessarily mean the interactionist approach to SZ is correct
-this is called treatment-causation fallacy
-this therefore means that our understanding of the diathesis-stress model for SZ treatment is incomplete
Explain the limitation of the interactionist approach that the diathesis-stress model is too simplistic?
-research has shown that multiple genes increase vulnerability to SZ, each having a small effect on its own, and so there is no single schizo-gene
-furthermore, stress can come in many forms, including but not limited to dysfunctional parenting
-Therefore, vulnerability and stress do not have one single source
-it is now believed that vulnerability can be the result of early trauma as well as genetic make-up, and that stress can come in many forms
-this shows that diathesis and stress are complex ideas and the original idea of diathesis as biological and stress and psychological doesn’t adequately explain the development of SZ
