The Interactionist Approach Flashcards
(12 cards)
what is the interactionist approach
taking into account both biological and psychological factors when considering the development of SZ
what is the diathesis stress model
a vulnerability to SZ and a stress trigger are necessary in order to develop the disorder
outline meelhs diathesis stress model
1962
- the vulnerability is purely genetic
- there is a personality - “schizotype” that is more sensitive to stress
- if you dont have the gene, no amount of stress will cause SZ
explain the key study into the interactionist approach (procedure)
tiearni et al
- Reviewed hospital records of 20,000 women diagnosed with SZ.
- Identified mothers who had one or more children adopted away.
- Sample: 150 high-risk adoptees (with SZ family history) and 150 low-risk adoptees (without SZ family history).
- Both groups assessed at 12 and 21 years old.
- Family functioning also assessed.
explain the key study into the interactionist approach (findings)
tiearni et al
- of the 300 adoptees, 14 developed SZ over the course of the study
- 11 were from the high risk group
outline gottesmans research
- reviewed SZ cases
- 48% concordance rate in identical twins
- 17% for non identical
what is tghe treatment according to the interactionist approach
combining drug treatment with therapy
outline supproting research into the interactionist approach to treatment
tarrier et al
- patients randomly placed in routine care or routine care and CBT
- patients in combined treatment group had improvement in positive symptoms
- suggets interactionist approach is most effective
give 2 strengths of interactionist approach
- supporting evidence - gottesman + tarrier
- practical application - interactionist treatment
give 2 limitations of the interactionist approach
- mechanisms about how stress trioggers biological factors is unclear
- treatment doesnt succesfully identify the cause
strength
evaluate the interactionist approach
- P - supporting evidence from twin studies
- Eg - gottesman found a concordance rate of 48% in MZ twins compared to 17% in DZ twins
- Ex - shows genes create a vulnerability but the lower than 100% for MZ twins implies extra environmental stress is needed
- L - neither biology nor environment alone is sufficient, exactly as the model predicts
- h - twin samples are small and usually share the same upbringing so effects may be muddled
limitation
evaluate the interactionist approach
- P - the approach is vague and unclear about how stress translates into biological change
- Eg - it labels cannabis use and family conflict as stress without specifying the neural route to dopamin dysfunction
- Ex - is the pathway is unknown, predictions become fuzzy and hard to falsify
- L - this weakens its scientific status
- H - new epigentic research is beginning to fill this gap
