Psychological Explanations Of Schiz Flashcards
Family dysfunction explanation: Freud’s schizophrenogenic mother hypothesis
- first introduced by Fromm-Reichmann in 1948 (very old) and put the blame for schizophrenia on the mothers; he argued that even though there had to be some genetic potential, the trigger was a domineering mother.
- support for evidence gained from studies that had looked at families and found the mother to be a domineering character within the family home (eg. Mother might micro manage her child and refuse to acknowledge their independence).
- BUT, such studies establish correlations, so it maybe a response to the schizophrenic behaviour, rather than the cause.
- also during this era, the mother would be at home whilst the father worked so there’d be less interaction with the child.
What has research shown about mothers in high risk families?
They are more dominant.
But there are many more family factors that are important in whether a child develops schizophrenia or not and research later confirmed that the mother who could cause schizophrenia in her offspring did NOT exist.
Family factors in developing schizophrenia: difficulty in communication
Wynne and Singer made a study involving 114 families, where one sibling had schizophrenia.
They used the Rorschach ink blot test to examine if those families with schizophrenia were different from other families.
Parents of schizophrenics showed high communication deviance scores, where both parents were shown to use confusing and contradictory modes of communication.
What the offspring described as when only one parent showed communication deviance?
Borderline
What else was found in parents who showed communication deviance?
Had a predisposition to schizophrenia but was not expressed clinically
Sousa meta-analysis:
Her meta-analysis showed a clear link between communication deviance and schizophrenia being confirmed across numerous studies.
BUT critics said without the use of properly conducted longitudinal studies, it would not be possible to confirm that communication deviance leads to schiz.
Expressed emotion within families: Brown
Originally based on work by Brown which showed that patients with schiz were more likely to replapse if they returned to homes characterised by high levels of expressed emotion (high EE) eg. Hostility, criticism & over concern than to homes characterised by low EE
How is EE assessed?
By taping an interview with a relative and rating the following:
- frequency of critical comments
- the number of statements of dislike/ resentment towards the patient
- a rating of statements reflecting emotional over involvement with or over-protectiveness of the patient.
Evaluation of EE:
High reliability: subsequent research has shown that there is a strong relationship between relapse and living with high EE relatives.
BUT, the studies of EE are correlational and May reflect the consequence of living with a schizophrenic rather than any casual significance.
High EE patterns have also been found in families of patients with other disorders such as depression and eating disorders, so it’s not a defining characteristic of families with a schizophrenic member.
Also, assessment requires only one observation or interview and this may not give an accurate picture of family dynamics.
What does EE definitely show?
That the family environment has a role in the onset and course of schizophrenia.
To prove this, prospective studies (large group of children monitored over a period of years) which have found high risk children who go on to develop schizophrenia, in contrast to those that do not, are more likely to come from families characterised by negative relationships.
Israeli high risk study:
Prevalence of schizophrenia is 1% which means an impravtically large group of children would have to be studies to find some who go on to develop schizophrenia.
Instead participants were chosen from a high risk population (e.g. children who have a schizophrenic parent) and these are studies along side a control group.
Israeli high risk study results:
Among high risk group, none of those who received “good parenting” went on to develop schizophrenia or a related disorder.
It is thought bad parenting and dysfunctional patterns of communication alone do not cause the disorder - rather an underlying vulnerability in certain individuals interacts with the environment to give rise to the onset of schizophrenia.
