S6. Interactionist Approach To Schizophrenia

Question 1

Interactionist Approach

Answer 1

• both biological and psychological explanations and therapies should be used to treat SZ
• e.g. Antipsychotics and CBT
• diathesis-stress model

Question 2

‘Original’ Diathesis-stress model

Answer 2

• Biological origin: “Schizogene” = “Schizotypic Personality” = SZ
• ONLY occurs when diathesis is accompanied by psychological stressor (e.g. excessive exposure to stress through schizophrenogenic mother)

Question 3

‘Modern’ Diathesis-stress model

Answer 3

• Psychological origin (e.g. childhood trauma)
• single “Schizogene” also refuted; instead 108 candidate genes
• childhood trauma causes HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) system dysfunction, leading to greater sensitivity to stressors, increasing SZ development likelihood
• cannabis (when combined with trauma) increase risk of SZ 7-fold

Question 4

+ Eval: All evidence used from Tienari et al. (2004) = high validity

Answer 4

• 19,000 compared to neurotypical group (large sample size = valid)