SCHIZOPHRENIA: Psychological Explanations (Family Dysfunction

Question 1

What did Freud say in relation to the parents role in development, that can be applied to SZ?

Answer 1

You need the mother’s input to overcome the Oral (delayed gratification) and Anal (balance the id with the ego) > SZ patients fail to prioritise stimuli and believe everything is about them

Question 2

What did Bowlby say about the parents role in development, that can be applied to SZ?

Answer 2

You need consistent, warm and reciprocal interactions with the mother to develop a healthy IWM > SZ systematically misinterpret others’ intentions as well as environmental stimuli

Question 3

Who came up with the Double Bind Theory?

Answer 3

Bateson et al (1956)

Question 4

What does The Double Bind Theory say about development of SZ?

Answer 4

Children who receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop SZ.

Question 5

How can a parents actions affect the child in ‘The Double Bind Theory’?

Answer 5

If a child’s mother tells them she loves them but turns her head away in disgust, they receive conflicting messages of their relationship on a verbal and non-verbal level. Children’s ability to respond is incapacitated by one message invalidating the other and this prevents internal coherent construction of reality which manifests in SZ symptoms

Question 6

What is a ‘Schizophrenogenic Mother’?

Answer 6

Cold, controlling and rejecting which can cause the child to lose trust and cause paranoid delusions. The contradictory messages from this mother can lead to SZ development.

Question 7

Who created the term Schizophrenogenic Mother?

Answer 7

Fromm-Reichmann (1948 )

Question 8

What is the definition of Expressed Emotion?

Answer 8

members of the family of a psychiatric patient talk about that patient in a critical/hostile manner

Question 9

Who theorised Expressed Emotion as an explanation for SZ development?

Answer 9

Kuipers et al (1983)

Question 10

How can ‘Expressed Emotion’ be seen to lead to SZ?

Answer 10

• High EE relatives talk more and listen less and this is more likely to influence relapse rates.
• A patient returning to a family with high EE are 4 times more likely to relapse than those with low EE.

Question 11

What did Noll (2009) say about Expressed Emotion as an explanation for SZ?

Answer 11

• People with SZ have a lower tolerance for intense environmental stimuli (emotional comments and interactions with family)
• Negative emotional climate in families can arouse the patient and lead to stress beyond their coping mechanisms, triggering an episode.
• A family environment that is supportive may help the person to reduce dependence on medication and reduce relapse likelihood (Diathesis-Stress Model)