schizophrenia - interactionist approach treatments

Question 1

what is the treatment involved with the interactionist approach

Answer 1

interactionist approach acknowledges both biological and psychological factors in schizophrenia
so treatment = both biological and psychological treatments
eg combining antipsychotic medication and psychological therapies, most commonly CBT.

Question 2

what is a strength of interactionist approach ? (evidence to support)

Answer 2

support for combinations of treatments of schizophrenia.

Tarrier et al (2004)
randomly allocated 315 patients to a medication and CBT group, medication and support counselling or a control group (medication only).
Patients in the two combination groups showed lower symptom levels that those in the medication only group.

This shows that there is a clear advantage of adopting an interactionist approach to treatment.
- patients have a better quality of life with less symptoms and therefore interactionist approach should be used

Question 3

what is a limitation of interactionist treatments (flawed logic)

Answer 3

Turkington et al (2004
just because good fit between schizophrenia and using combination treatments - doesn’t mean interactionist approach correct
eg combined treatments successful -> does not provide support for interactionist approach
this error of logic -> treatment causation fallacy and is unlikely to be solved

Question 4

limitation of interactionist approaches (cost effectiveness)

Answer 4

• not cost effective
  -, giving a sufferer biological and psychological treatments is much more costly than giving them antipsychotic drugs alone
  tarrier et al - combination treatments successful but do not reduce admission to hospital
• the NHS may be less likely to offer interactionist treatments to those suffering from schizophrenia