Schizophrenia Studies

Question 1

Describe study into reliability of classification?

Answer 1

Method - interviewed 60 adults diagnosed with SZ. 20 each in Ghana, India and US.
Findings - Indian and African subjects reported positive experiences with the voices they heard. US subjects more likely to report the voices they heard as violent.
Conclusion- the violent voices common in the west and may not be a feature of SZ

Question 2

Describe study into validity of classification

Answer 2

Method - 8 normal people went to 12 different psychiatric hospitals claiming to hear indistinguishable voices saying “thud”etc. All info given to staff was identical to individuals actual life history. If admitted to hospital said voices no longer present. Highly co operative and pretended to take medication. Noted how long it took to be discharge.
Findings - all 8 researchers were admitted. 7 diagnosed. Average release was 19 days

Question 3

Describe study into reliability of classification

Answer 3

Findings - female sex hormone estradiol was effective at treating SZ in women, when combined with antipsychotic therapy, suggesting disorder is different in men than women

Question 4

Describe study into biological explanation

Answer 4

Findings - children with 2 SZ parents had a concordance rate of 46%, children with one SZ parent had a rate of 13% and siblings had a concordance of 9%

Question 5

Describe study into psychological explanation

Answer 5

Recovering SZ patient in hospital. When mother came to visit he embraced her warmly but she stiffened but then asked him “don’t you love me anymore?” When she left he became agitated and assaulted a hospital worker

Question 6

Describe study into psychological explanation

Answer 6

Method - conducted a meta analysis of secondary research into EE.
Findings - found that the mean relapse rate for SZ patients who returned to live with high EE families was 48% compared with low EE families at 21%

Question 7

Describe study into biological treatment

Answer 7

Method - carried out a meta analysis of 65 studies , involving nearly 6000 patients. All patients had been stabilised on either typical or atypical antipsychotics. Some taken off medication and given placebo, others remained on drugs
Findings - within 12 months, 64% given placebo had relapsed compared to 27% who stayed on drug

Question 8

Describe study into CBT

Answer 8

Findings - found that participants who received CBT alongside drug therapy did better than patients who received drugs alone. The CBT group reported 50% reduction in psychotic experiences, with 15% reporting no more positive symptoms

Question 9

Describe study into family therapy

Answer 9

Method - meta analysis reviewing 53 studies. Studies were conducted in Europe, Asia and N America.
Findings -
Mental state - some studies reported improvement in overall mental state, others didnt
Compliance - family therapy increased patients compliance with medication

Question 10

Describe interactionist study

Answer 10

Found that children who experienced trauma before the age of 16 were 3 times more likely to develop SZ in later life