Interactionist theory of schizophrenia Flashcards
Interactionist theory of schizophrenia
-The interactionist approach suggests that the development of schizophrenia is due to the combined effects and interaction between biological and social/psychological factors
Diathesis stress model
The diathesis-stress model suggests that a disorder is due to the interaction between a predisposed genetic vulnerability (diathesis) and an environmental trigger later on in life (stress)
Examples of diathesis causing schizophrenia
-Diathesis in schizophrenia is most commonly thought to be genetic vulnerability, i.e, dopamine imbalance
-However, very early childhood trauma such as child abuse, has been found to affect brain development, creating a diathesis
Stressors in schizophrenia
-Stressors in schizophrenia can be later negative life experiences such as family dysfunction or a major negative life event, i.e, a close relative passing
-This emotional event then triggers the disorder
-Drug abuse can also be considered a stressor of schizophrenia, as cannabis intereferes with the dopamine system
The interactionist approach can also explain research findings (Gottesman (1991) and Tienari, (2004))
-Gottesman reviewed schizophrenia in families and found that there was a concordance rate of schizophrenia of 48% for monozygotic twins (share 100% of genetics) and only 17% for Dizygotic twins (only share 50% genetics)
-This suggests that there is a genetic factor involved in schizophrenia as there is a large difference between sets of twins
-However, as the monozygotic concordance rate is not 100%, we can argue that there are other factors (psychological/social) involved in the development of schizophrenia
Tienari studied biological children of schizophrenic mothers that had been adopted
They found that those who had been adopted into psychologically healthy homes had a prevalence rate of schizophrenia of about 5.8%, compared to those who were adopted into dysfunctional homes whos prevalence rate of schizophrenia was around 36.8%
-This research supports the role of biological factors due to the higher than average rate of schizophrenia even in psychologically healthy families
-However, the even higher figure in dysfunctional families suggests that a psychological trigger is needed (diathesis stress model)
Treatment of schizophrenia using the interactionist approach
-As the interactionist approach suggests that schizophrenia is the result of both biological and psychological factors, an effective treatment would combine psychological aspects such as CBT and biological drug therapies to address both causes of the disorder
-In patients that have severe symptoms, biological drug therapies can be used to reduce those symptoms enough for them to engage with psychological treatments such as CBT
-CBT can then change their faulty cognitions by challenging irrational beliefs
Supporting research of the interactionist approach to treating schizophrenia
-Researchers conducted an experiment where they randomly separated schizophrenia patients into two groups
-one group of patients would take part in antipsychotic treatment
-The other group would take part in CBT and drug therapy treatment
-Researchers found significant improvement in symptoms for those who did the CBT and biological drug therapies, compared to those who only did the drug therapy treatments
-This suggests that an interactionist approach to treatment with both psychological and biological causes being addressed, was the most effective
Positive general evaluation of interactionist explanation (holistic)
-Interactionist theory is a more holistic appraoch of explaining schizophrenia as it takes into account a complex range of causal factors affecting schizophrenia
-It may be a more valid explanation then just reducing the cause of schizophrenia down to certain biological or psychological factors
Negative general evaluation of interactionist theory
The mechanism by which a negative psychological event triggers a biological response resulting in symptoms is still uncertain
-This reduces confidence in the interactionist explanation of schizophrenia
