Schizophrenia Flashcards
Reliability and Validity in the Diagnosis and Classification; Family Dysfunction; Dysfunctional Thought Processing; Psychological Treatments; Token Economy; Genetic Explanation; Neural Correlates and Dopamine Hypothesis; Biological Treatments; Interactionist Approach
What is validity?
Are you measuring what you set out to measure?
What is reliability?
Consistency
What are the core four symptoms of SZ?
Hallucinations
Delusions
Avolition
Speech poverty
What does a positive symptom mean?
Additional experiences
What does a negative symptom?
Removal/lessening of experiences
Is hallucinations a positive or negative symptom?
Positive
Additional sensory experiences
Is delusions a positive or negative symptom?
Positive
Additional thoughts/beliefs
Is avolition a positive or negative symptom?
Negative
Lack of motivation to carry out tasks
Is speech poverty a positive or negative symptom?
Negative
Lack of speech fluency/emotion (monotone, forced speech)
What are the two diagnostic tools?
DSM-5
ICD-10
What symptoms must a person have to be diagnosed by the DSM-5?
One positive symptom
What symptoms must a person have to be diagnosed by the ICD-10?
Two or more negative symptoms
How do you define reliability in terms of SZ?
Consistency across diagnosis (same symptoms should have same diagnosis)
Consistency across classification (same diagnosis when saying same symptoms for DSM-5 and ICD-10)
How do you define validity in terms of SZ?
Diagnosis of SZ is accurate for your symptoms or misdiagnosis
Which of the classifications is the correct diagnostic tool for SZ, or are both incorrect?
What are the factors affecting diagnosis and classification of SZ?
Gender bias
Cultural bias
Co-morbidity
Symptom overlap
What is cultural bias (in relation to SZ)?
How the culture of the person with SZ, the culture of the doctor and the country the person is in affects the diagnosis and classification of SZ
AO3 reliability and validity - cultural bias
African-Americans and Latinos have higher chance of being diagnosed with SZ by a white doctor than any other ethnicity
Afro-Caribbean British men are up to 10x more likely to receive a diagnosis
Validity: a patient may get an accurate diagnosis of SZ by one doctor/classification/country but receive a misdiagnosis of SZ in another
What is gender bias (in relation to SZ)?
How the sex of the person with SZ and the sex of the medical professional affects the diagnosis and classification of SZ
Which gender is more likely to be diagnosed with SZ?
Males
1.4:1
AO3 reliability and validity - gender bias
Doctors more likely to believe men talking about their symptoms than females
Longbecker et al: when men reported their failure to function adequately was seen as worse than females
More males used in research
What is symptom overlap?
One symptom appears in two or more conditions
What is symptom overlap in relation to SZ?
How the symptoms of SZ are seen in other disorders, making it difficult to diagnose and classify SZ
Limitation of reliability and validity - symptom overlap
Delusions
Can be bipolar disorder or dementia
Can be in multiple disorders
What is co-morbidity?
Two conditions at one time
What is co-morbidity in relation to SZ?
Buckley 2009
Percentage of cases where SZ is co-morbid with the conditions
OCD = 23%
Depression = 50%
Substance abuse = 47%
PTSD = 29%
What is the psychological psychodynamic explanation for SZ called?
Family dysfunction
What are the three separate theories within family dysfunction?
Schizophregenic mother
Double-bind theory
Expressed emotion
What is the schizophregenic mother?
SZ-CAUSING mother
What are the characteristics of a schizophregenic mother?
Cold
Critical
Harsh
How does the schizophregenic mother lead to SZ?
Child turns inwards to find love and warmth to create their own reality
What specific symptom does the schizophregenic mother connect to?
Hallucinations
What is the double-bind theory?
Risk factor of SZ is receiving contradictory messages from their parent
How does the double-bind theory lead to SZ?
Interactions lead to the child creating their own concept of reality
What symptom does the double-bind theory link to?
Paranoia
Always second guessing
Is it high or low expressed emotion that leads to developing SZ?
High
What is high expressed emotion?
Members of the family talk about the patient in a critical manner and are emotionally overly involved
Tend to talk but not listen
What does high expressed emotion affect?
The chances of relapse for the patient
What is the structure of family dysfunction AO3?
+ research support
- problems with research method - self-report
+ practical application - family therapy
- alternative explanations/socially sensitive (pressure on family)
Strength of FD - Berger
Schizophrenics reported a higher recall of double-bind statements from mothers than non-schizophrenic controls
Limitation of FD - Altorfer
High EE families are interpreted differently by SZ patients
1/4 showed no psychological response to EE comments
Strength of FD - practical application
Creation of family therapy
Pharoah et al 2010
Reviewed 53 studies (2002-2010) that compared family therapy against standard care (medication) in Europe, Asia and Northern American
Increase with compliance to medication and reduction in relapses during treatment and 24 months after
Limitation of FD - social sensitivity
Blames family members for causing their child to become schizophrenic
Could cause more stigma towards those family members
Could increase stress levels in the house
Could cause family to not seek support/take part in research
Limitation of FD - validity
Majority of research evidence for psychological explanation is self-report techniques
Interview the person who has SZ about their childhood experiences and relationships with their families
People with SZ suffer from delusions so may not have most accurate recall
When family interviewed, may have social desirability bias and not want to accurately report any negative interactions with SZ person
What is the name for the cognitive explanation of SZ (also a psychological explanation)?
Dysfunctional thought processing
What are the two theories within dysfunctional thought processing?
LACK of meta representation
LACK of central control
What is meta representation?
Cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviours
How does a lack of meta representation affect someone?
Disrupts ability to recognise our thoughts as our own, leading to sensation of hearing voices
Experience of having thoughts placed in mind of others
What symptoms does lack of meta representation link to?
Auditory hallucinations
Thought insertion
What is central control?
Cognitive ability to carry out a deliberate action whilst suppressing an automatic response
How does a lack of central control affect someone?
Derailment of thoughts
Each word triggers automatic association that they cannot suppress
What symptom does lack of central control link to?
Speech poverty
What is the structure of AO3 for DTP?
+ research support
- problems with research method - inferences
+ practical application - CBT
- alternative explanations/socially sensitive (blame on SZ individual)
Strength of DTP - practical application
Creation of CBT
NICE 2014
CBT is effective at reducing relapse rates, increasing social functioning and reducing symptom severity
Strength of DTP - Stirling
Compared 30 SZ patients with 18 controls using Stroop test
SZ patients took twice as long to complete the test
Problem with self-control caused them to be slower processing the information
What does CBT stand for?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
What is CBT?
Identifying irrational thoughts (delusions) and changing them
Focusing on helping them with delusions and hallucinations and reflecting on how they make them feel to reduce anxiety
Delivery of techniques to identify and manage intrusive or delusional thoughts
What is the patient encouraged to do in CBT?
Develop rational interpretations or alternative perceptions (e.g. viewing voices as interesting rather than threatening)
What does CBT promote?
Increase in social activity
Use of relaxation strategies
What are some of the techniques of CBT?
Patient-as-scientist
Journal writing
Homework