Psychological Explanations For SCZ

Question 1

Family dysfunction

Answer 1

Suggests SCZ is due to family experiences of interpersonal conflict, communication problems, criticism and control
• Schizophrenogenic mother
• Double bind
• Expressed emotion

Question 2

Schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 2

Cold, dominant and created conflict caused schizophrenia to emerge in a child
• Mothers said to be rejecting, overprotective, self-sacrificing with high moral standards and expectations
• The distrust, resentfulness and instability caused by the parent was thought to induce a SCZ reaction

By 1980s: no such thing as a SCZ mother
• Only a small amount of mothers who fit this description and produced SCZ children

Question 3

Double bind

Answer 3

Children are sent mixed messages: punished for doing what was asked/punished again when parent gives no reason for pushing them away

Suggests children will become confused and lose their grip on reality. Negative symptoms of social withdrawal may be an appropriate and logical response to double bind situations

BATESON - states that if children receive mixed messages they cannot trust messages they receive from other. They don’t trust their own feelings and perceptions resulting in paranoia and disorganised thinking

BERGER - found schizophrenics reported higher recall of double bind statements by their mothers than non schizophrenics

LIEM/HALLL AND LEVIN - found no difference in the patterns of parental communication in families with a SCZ child in comparison to normal families

Question 4

Expressed emotion

Answer 4

High expressed emotion is a family communication style that involves:
• Criticism/controlling of sufferers behaviour
• Hostility towards the suffers
• Exaggerated emotional involvement in their life including needless self sacrifice
If these factors are high, relapse is high

BUTZLAFF AND HOOLEY - meta-analysis of 27 studies found relapse was significantly higher in families that have issues with EE

BROWN - people recovering/discharged from hospital were followed up for a 9 month period
• Higher EE levels - 58% returned
• Lower EE levels - 10% returned

Question 5

Cognitive explanation

Answer 5

Suggests that it is due to abnormal information processing and dysfunctional thought processing

Question 6

Dysfunctional thought processing

Answer 6

Cognitive habits/beliefs that cause the individual to evaluate information inappropriately and produces undesirable consequences

FRITH - two kinds
• Meta-representation - cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour which allowed us insight into our own intentions and goals
~ dysfunction: disrupt our ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as carried out ourselves

• Central control - cognitive ability to surprise automatic response while we perform deliberate actions instead
~ Dysfunction: leads to disorganised speech and thought disorders

FRITH- 30 patients PET scans which indicated
• reduction in blood flow in the frontal cortex in patients with negative symptoms - suppressing automatic thoughts
• suggests there is a biological difference in brain regions associated with the theorised cognitive processes