Schizophrenia

Question 1

Describe 2 positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 1

1. Hallucinations - experiences that have no basis in reality or distorted perceptions of real things (hearing voices)
2. Delusions - believing things that aren’t real (they might think they are famous)

Question 2

Read (2005) - What did they find about SZ and sexual abuse?

Answer 2

69% of women and 59% of men with SZ have a history of physical / sexual abuse.
Suggests a psychological cause.

Question 3

Berger 1956 - What did they find about causes of SZ?

Answer 3

SZ patients reported higher levels of double bind than non-SZ patients

Question 4

Tienari 2004 - what they find to support genetic causes of SZ?

Answer 4

7% of adoptees with SZ biological parents developed SZ compared to 1.5% of non SZ parents

Question 5

Tienari 2004 - What were their findings on high EE?

Answer 5

High EE is associated with SZ only in children with SZ biological parents
Suggests interactionist approach is good explanation

Question 6

Glowacki 2016 - findings on token economies

Answer 6

Token economies reduce negative symptoms and behaviours

Question 7

Tarrier 2004 - findings on treatments for SZ

Answer 7

Combination of CBT and antipsychotics showed more improvements than antipsychotics alone.
Suggests combined approach is best

Question 8

Juahar 2004 - findings on CBT effect on symptoms of SZ

Answer 8

CBT has effect on both positive and negative symptoms
Suggests CBT is effective

Question 9

McFarlane 2016 - findings on family therapy for SZ

Answer 9

It is ‘consistently effective’. Reduced relapse rates by 50-60%

Question 10

Meltzer 2012 - findings on atypical antipsychotics

Answer 10

Atypical are effective on 30-50% of typical non-responders

Question 11

Thornley 2003 - findings on typical antipsychotics

Answer 11

Chlorpromazine (typical) gives more symptom reduction than controls.
X - 30% risk of tardive dyskenesia

Question 12

Stirling 2006 - findings on dysfunctional central control

Answer 12

SZ group took twice as long on stroop test (unable to suppress automatic thoughts)

Question 13

What things are stressors that can trigger SZ?

Answer 13

Birth complications, childhood trauma, smoking high THC cannabis

Question 14

Chenaux 2009 - findings on validity of diagnosis

Answer 14

Using DSM - 39% were diagnosed with SZ
Using ICD - 68% were diagnosed with SZ
Suggests diagnosis systems are not valid

Question 15

Rosenhan 1973 - findings on validity of diagnosis

Answer 15

All but 1 pseudo-patient was wrongly diagnosed with SZ

Question 16

Osorio 2019 - improvements in reliability of SZ diagnosis

Answer 16

Using OPCRIT (operationalised symptom checklist)
Inter-rater reliability was 0.97
Suggests diagnosis is now much more reliable

Question 17

Gottesman 1991 - findings on role of genetics in SZ

Answer 17

MZ twins = 48% concordance
DZ = 17% concordance
Suggests some genetic link but not completely - some environmental factors

Question 18

Ripke 2014 - findings on candidate genes

Answer 18

108 candidate genes
Suggests that some genetic variation may increase risk factor

Question 19

Brown 1958 - findings on high EE

Answer 19

SZ returning to high EE families have higher relapse rates
Suggests high EE may act as stressor and maintain SZ

Question 20

How common is SZ? Who is affected most?

Answer 20

Affects 1% of population, mostly in males

Question 21

What is needed for diagnosis using DSM-5 ?

Answer 21

One positive symptom

Question 22

What is needed for a diagnosis using ICD-10?

Answer 22

2 or more negative symptoms (no positive symptoms needed)

Question 23

Why is comorbidity a limitation of SZ diagnosis?

Answer 23

Some conditions have similar symptoms e.g avolition in depression and SZ.
So there may be misdiagnosis

Question 24

What is an issue with gender bias and SZ diagnosis?

Answer 24

Men are more likely to be diagnosed with SZ. Maybe men are more vulnerable or women generally cope better, but means some women miss out on diagnosis

Question 25

What is the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 25

Overactive dopamine activity can cause positive symptoms such as hallucinations

Question 26

What are the 3 elements of family dysfunction?

Answer 26

Schizophrenogenic mothers - (Fromm-Reichman) cold, rejecting and controlling mothers create tension and paranoia
Double bind theory - (Bateson) receiving conflicting messages and when they get something wrong they are punished by withdrawal of love
Expressed emotion - verbal criticism, hostility causes stress and trigger SZ or relapse

Question 27

Pharoah 2010 - 3 ways in which family therapy helps improve function

Answer 27

Reducing negative symptoms
Psycho education
Forming a therapeutic alliance

Question 28

What is Meehl’s model for SZ?

Answer 28

The original stress-diathesis model.
Believed SZ was entirely genetic (schizogene and schizophrenogenic mother), now we know there are candidate genes that increase risk when combined with a stressor

Question 29

What is some evidence for interactionist approach for explaining SZ?

Answer 29

Tienari found high EE was significant in the ‘SZ parents’ group and not in control group