The interactionist approach Flashcards
What do interactionists believe we need need to do when considering the development of schizophrenia ?
The interactionist approach suggests that we must take into account both social, biological and psychological factors when considering the development of schizophrenia and treatments.
What model do interactionists use to describe how schizophrenia is developed ?
The diathesis- stress model
How does the diathesis stress model suggest that schizophrenia is developed ?
Diathesis means vulnerability.
It combines the effects of internal vulnerability and external stressor
This model simply means that you have a genetic predisposition to Sz but you need an environmental stressor to cause it to develop into schizophrenia.
Needs both the genetic and stressor to develop it
Who used the diathesis stress model to explain the development of schizophrenia ?
Paul Meehl
What did Paul Meehl say about the development of schizophrenia ?
In his original model the vulnerability was purely genetic as a result of a single schizogene
Meehl says that If the schizogene isn’t present then no amount of stress can cause schizophrenia. But if you do have it then chronic stress can cause the development of Sz
Why can Meehl be criticised?
Because he says that the genetic vulnerability come from a single gene called the schizogene however we now know that it is polygenic and there’s many genes involved in the development of Sz
How has our understanding of the diathesis stress model evolved since Meehl ?
Diathesis: - the vulnerability isn’t always genetic as it was once thought to be
- Ripke et al - said that there is no schizogene
- Canon- Found that flu in late pregnancy and birth complications can make you more vulnerable
- The vulnerability includes psychological trauma as some affects early brain development. For example, an over active HPA axis makes you more vulnerable to stress
Stress:
- can be psychological, social or biological in nature
- Research of canabis use - THC being the stressor as it makes you 7x more at risk as it interferes with the dopamine system
What is the interactionist approach to treatments ?
Using both drug and talking therapy as a treatment
the drugs can help the individual with severe sz reduce symptoms so that they can effectively take part in talking therapy as without the reduction of symptoms they might not be able to properly engage.
Strength -
Tarrier - interactionist treatments are much more effective. Participants either given CBT and anti-psychotics or just anti-psychotics. He found that there was a significant improvement in positive symptoms of those using both treatments and they spent less time in hospital
What is a strength of the interactionist approach ?
P - Practical application
E - Effective treatments
E - Tarrier - using both drug and CBT was more effective as there was a significant decrease in positive symptoms and they spent less days in hospital receiving care
L - Therefore, it has practical application and the ideas talked about have been applied to treatment which have been proven to be more significant
P- Holistic approach
E - More holistic since its been developed as it looks at the bigger picture of schizophrenia
E - For example, know there’s more than 1 gene and there’s research into different things that cause a vulnerability or acts as a stress such as birth complications (Canon)
L - Therefore, as its more holistic now it provides a more valid explanation to the development of sz as it takes into account multiple factors rather than just one
What are some weaknesses of the interactionist approach to the development of schizophrenia ?
P - Conflicting evidence
E - Jarvis and Okami Suggests that treatment is a fallacy in that a successful treatment does not identify the cause.
E - They use the example that alcohol makes you less shy but we can’t conclude that shyness is the lack of alcohol. Therefore, this is all correlational and not causation
L - Therefore, this theory lacks credibility as there is conflicting evidence that suggests that their evidence is all correlational and not causal
