the interactionist approach

Question 1

what does the interactionist approach suggest

Answer 1

that both biological and psychological factors contribute to the onset of schizophrenia

Question 2

a schizophrenic episode is triggered or worsened when

Answer 2

environmental stressors combine with a biological diathesis

Question 3

what could the biological factors be

Answer 3

genetic vulnerability
neurochemical abnormality
neurological abnormality

Question 4

what could the psychological factors be

Answer 4

stress
life events
daily hassles

Question 5

what is the diathesis stress model

Answer 5

suggests that one or multiple genetic vulnerability/predisposition and stress-trigger are necessary in order to develop the condition

Question 6

diathesis

Answer 6

genetic vulnerability

Question 7

stress

Answer 7

environmental factors

Question 8

what is meehls model

Answer 8

the diathesis is purely genetic and the result of one schizogene
- leading to the development of a biologically based schizotypic personality

Question 9

what did meehl argue

Answer 9

that is a person doesnt have the schizogene then no amount of stress would lead to schizophrenia
- carriers of the gene who experience chronic stress in childhood/adolescence and are in the presence of a schizophrenogenic mother are more likely to develop the condition

Question 10

whats the modern understanding of diathesis

Answer 10

ripke - no single schizogene
ingram and luxton - diathesis views extend to include psychological trauma not just genes
read - neurodevelopment model in which early trauma alters the brain eg HPA system becomes overactive making a person more vulnerable to stress

Question 11

whats the modern understanding of stress

Answer 11

houston - original model mainly involved parenting, nowadays includes anything that risks triggering schizophrenia
- cannabis is a stressor as it increases the risk of schizophrenia by 7x if a genetic predisposition is already present

Question 12

treatment using the interactionist approach

Answer 12

• acknowledges both biological and psychological factors
• combines CBT and antipsychotics to relieve symptoms short term (drugs) and long term (CBT)

Question 13

what did turkington suggest

Answer 13

its possible to believe in biological causes and still practice CBT to relieve psychological symptoms

Question 14

a strength of the interactionist approach is that we have research evidence for the role of vulnerability and triggers

Answer 14

tienari
- investigated combination of parenting styles and genetic vulnerability
- children adopted from 19000 schizophrenic mothers
- between 1960 and 1979 adoptive parents were assessed for child rearing styles
- schizophrenia rates were compared to control group of adoptees without any genetic risk
- child rearing style characterised by high level of criticism and low levels of empathy was implicated with the development of schizophrenia
- but only for children with a genetic risk not in the control group
- this suggests both genetic vulnerability and family-related stress (environmental factors) are more important in the development of schizophrenia
- strong direct support in adopting an interactionist approach to schizophrenia, suggests the diathesis stress model and interactionist approach hold a degree of validity in explaining the onset of schizophrenia

Question 15

a limitation of the assessment used by tiernari to assess adoptive family functioning was limited

Answer 15

• when the psychiatrists assessed stress in the adoptive family using the OPAS scale they failed to reflect the developmental changes in family functioning overtime
• this is important because observing reciprocal interactions between the adoptive family and the adoptees makes it impossible to determine how much of stress observed is assigned to the family and how much is actually caused by the adoptees themselves
• this therefore suggests that tiernaris study does not provide strong support for the interactionist approach to schizophrenia

Question 16

a limitation of tiernaris research into the interactionist approach is that it isnt clear what ages the children were adopted at

Answer 16

• bowlby proposed a critical period of attachment formation to be 2 1/2 years
• if the children were adopted after this critical period then the schizophrenia may have been caused by the disruption to attachment and maternal deprivation
• may have also triggered affectionless psychopathology in the children
• could be argued that this triggered the onset of schizophrenia not genes or parenting styles
• this is a limitation as adoption age acts as an extraneous variable which may have impacted results, limiting the internal validity of the study
• it may not demonstrate the two factors of causation (genetic predisposition and environmental stressors) that the diathesis stress model suggests
• could mean tiernaris research as supporting evidence may not be valid and support the interactionist approach to explaining the development of schizophrenia

Question 17

a strength of the interactionist approach is that there is support for the effectiveness of combinations of treatments

Answer 17

• turkington pointed out that it isnt possible to use combination treatments without adopting an interactionist approach
• studies show an advantage to using combinations of treatments for schizophrenia
• 315 patients were randomly allocated to : medication + CBT, medication + supporting counselling or a control group
• patients in the 2 combination groups showed lower symptom levels than those in the control group (medication only)
• although there was no difference found in rates of hospital readmission
• this is a strength as studies like this show a clear practical advantage to adopting an interactionist approach as they have superior treatment outcomes
  therefore highlight the importance of taking an interactionist approach