The interactionist approach to schizophrenia Flashcards
1
Q
what is the interactionist approach
A
- a way to explain the development of behaviour in terms of a range of factors including both biological and psychological
2
Q
what is the diathesis-stress model
A
means vulnerability. Also known as a negative experience. Needs a vulnerability and stress to trigger schizophrenia.
3
Q
what is Meehl’s model (1962)
A
- that diathesis (vulnerability) was entirely genetic, the result of a single ‘schizogene’.
- if a person does not have this gene, then no amount of stress would lead to schizophrenia.
- however in carierrs of the gene, if a child goes through lots of stress in childhood, then schizophtenia could then develop.
4
Q
what is the modern understanding of diathesis
A
- its now clear that many genes increase genetic vulnerability only slightly. There is no one gene. (Ripke et al. 2014).
- psychological trauma also plays a role and becomes the stressor (Ingram and Luxton 2005)
- Read et al. 2001 proposed a neurodevelopmental model where early trauma alters the development in the brain e.g. the HPA system in the brain can become overactive making a person much more vulnerable to later stress.
- use of cannabis can also trigger schizophrenia- makes it 7x more likely (Houstan et al. 2008)
5
Q
link this to issues and debates
A
- diathesis stress model strives to be holistic rather than reductionist. Achieves this to some extent but still doesn’t fully account to individual differences. Therefore may lack some explanatory power.
6
Q
what are the strengths to this approach
A
- research by Tienari (2004) lends strong support bc it highlights the interplay between biological and psycho-social factors in development of scz.
- model could be applied to for intervention strategies like resilience building, mentoring/buddy programmes, social skills training so therefore has some external validity.
7
Q
what are the limitations to this approach
A
- Doesn’t acknowledge role of other biological factors like role of neurotransmitters so only offers a partial explanation.
- some vagueness over exactly how biological, psychological and social factors interact according to the model which means it lacks objectivity. Has no scientific reliability.
8
Q
what is the treatment according to the interactionist model
A
- combining antipsychotic medication with CBT therapy. Turkington et al. 2006 points out its possible to believe in biological causes of scz and still practice CBT to relieve psychological symptoms.
- treat people with combination of antipsychotic drugs and CBT. This is more common in UK than US
9
Q
link treatment according to interactionist approach to issues and debates.
A
- there is a lack of cultural relitivism so could be accused of culture bias. Some cultures may respond to neither drug therapy nor CBT as both can misalign with some cultural norms and culture bound syndromes.
10
Q
give strengths to the treatment based on this model
A
- strong supporting evidence for example Tarrier et al 2018. Give good validity.
- May be cost effective and therefore good for the economy if it is more succesful than other treatments as patients will improve more quickly and is less likely to relapse, saving money on health services and getting the patient back into the workplace more quickly.
11
Q
what are the weaknesses of using the interactionist approach for treatment.
A
- may not suit all patients- some may have difficulty understanding or interpreting the side effects of their drugs which CBT could actually worsen with its emphasis on challenging dysfunctional thoughts- the effects of the drug may be excacerbated by the process of CBT.
- The treatment-causation fallacy suggests that the interactionist approach may be mistaken in treating the biological causes of the illness first as there is no hard evidence that scz has its roots in biological factors.
