Psychological Explanations of Schizophrenia- Family Dysfunction Flashcards
How may family dysfunction be a reason for schizophrenia according to Freud’s ideas?
- If a child experiences trauma in childhood, such as a poor communication style, this could be repressed or denied through using defence mechanisms.
- In turn, this will create an unconscious issue which could reappear in adulthood in the form of schizophrenia symptoms.
What are the 3 family problems which can result in schizophrenia?
- Schizophrenogenic Mother
- Double-bind hypothesis
- High Expressed Emotion
What is the schizophrenogenic mother explanation?
- Term used to describe a mother who is domineering, insensitive, controlling, overprotective and rejecting
- This type of mother may micro manage her kids and refuse to acknowledge their independence, setting up lines of faulty communication between her and her child
- This can create excessive stress that could trigger psychotic thinking and develop into schizophrenia in adulthood
What is the double-bind hypothesis?
- Contradictory communication
- Families that communicate this way make their children more susceptible to schizophrenia in adulthood
- E.g. mother tells her son she loves him but, at the same time, turns her head away in disgust, hence the child receives conflicting messages and is placed in a no win situation
- As a result, the child becomes confused and suspicious and cannot develop an internally coherent construction of reality
- Can contribute to the development of schizophrenia in adulthood through paranoia and disorganised thinking
What is the high expressed emotion explanation?
- Revolves around how family interactions affect the development of schizophrenia rather than its onset
- High expressed emotion families express considerable emotion, such as higher levels of concern for and/or hostility towards the schizophrenic patient
What are the 2 pieces of research on high expressed emotion?
Kuipers et al- Found that high expressed emotion relatives talk more and listen less
Linszen et al- Found that patients returning to a high expressed emotion household are 4x more likely to relapse than those with low expressed emotion
If the point is:
A strength of dysfunctional families as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia is that there is evidence to support its theoretical foundations.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Lidz looked at the cases of 50 schizophrenic patients and investigated their family backgrounds. 45/50 were found to have seriously disturbed families. 60% of the patients had 1 or both parents with a serious personality disorder.
Link- This implies that dysfunctional family backgrounds may well contribute to the development of schizophrenia.
If the point is:
A weakness of dysfunctional families as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia is that alternative explanations of schizophrenia are more scientific and hence, more credible.
What is the explanation, evidence and link?
Explanation- The approach explains the origins of schizophrenia as a consequence of a dysfunctional family, which is based on factors that are difficult to study objectively (e.g childhood and the unconscious mind). These concepts are subjective and require a degree of interpretation which restricts the validity of the account.
Evidence- A more scientific alternative is the dopamine hypothesis. It objectively measures abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter through sophisticated PET scans or cerebrospinal fluids.
Link- This could suggest that the dysfunctional family explanation is redundant, as more trustworthy explanations are available.
If the point is:
A strength of dysfunctional families as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia is that there is evidence to show how returning to a household with high expressed emotion effects relapse.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Evidence- Butzlaff and Hooley completed a meta analysis of 26 studies and found that, when patients suffering from schizophrenia returned to families with high expressed emotion, they experienced more than twice the rate of relapse of schizophrenia symptoms.
Explanation- This provides further concurrent validity to Linzen’s findings that high expressed emotion clearly relates to schizophrenia.
Link- Therefore, this shows how high levels of expressed emotion clearly impacts the relapse of schizophrenia.
If the point is:
A weakness of dysfunctional families as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia is that it can be criticised for causing further problems for the sufferer and their families.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence-The explanation tends to blame the way parents have raised and interacted with their children as the sole cause of schizophrenia. This is hardly protecting patients and their families from harm and, in some instances, can be seen to make family dynamics even worse.
Link- This suggests that, in such a socially sensitive topic, clinicians need to be mindful of how casual factors are discussed with patients and their families.
What are the evaluation points for dysfunctional families?
+ Evidence to support the explanation’s theoretical foundations
— Alternative explanations of schizophrenia are more scientific and hence, more credible
+ There is evidence to show how returning to a household with high expressed emotion effects relapse
— The explanation can be criticised for causing further problems for the sufferer and their families
