AO3 !

• Butzlaff and Hooley showed using a meta-analysis of 27 studies that relapse into schizophrenia is significantly more likely in families that have issues with expressed emotion
• Tienari who studied the biological children of schizhoprenic mothers who had been adopted. It was found that 5.8 % of those adopted into psychologically healthy families developed schizophrenia, compared to 36.8 % of children raised in dysfunctional families. This suggests that the interpersonal family environment has a significant impact on the development of schizophrenia in genetically vulnerable people
• Stirling et al conducted the Stroop test on 30 patients with schizophrenia and 18 control patients
• Stirling found that patients with schizophrenia took twice as long to name the colour as the controls. This suggests that patients with schizophrenia do have dysfunctional thought processing, in this case with faulty central control
• Family therapy reduces expressed emotion in families. This has been demonstrated to be an effective intervention and supports the family dysfunction argument
• As cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis can be an effective treatment, this indicated that cognitive factors are involved in this disorder
• It is socially sensitive to suggest that schizophrenia is caused by the family, parents are already dealing with the difficult of their relatives behaviour. Theorists may be adding additional stress and anxiety by making the family think they are responsible
• Impossible to demonstrate cause and effect: it could bet at schizophrenia of the child and associated behaviour is the cause of the family dysfunction
• Significant amount of research evidence that so has a biological cause such as genetics (Gottesman) and neurotransmitters (Leucht). Family dysfunction may act as a trigger but it can be argued the basic cause is biological
• What research supports the link between family dysfunction and SZ?

  Read et al. found that people with SZ are more likely to have insecure attachments and experience childhood trauma
• What percentage of adults with SZ reported childhood abuse in Read et al.’s study?

  69 % of women and 59 % of men
• What are the criticisms of family based explanations for SZ?

  They rely on retrospective data and lack systematic evidence and rely heavily on clinical obersevation, leading to concerns about parent blaming. May be socially sensitive
• Who conducted a study that supports the cognitive explanations for SZ?

  Stirling et al.
• Procedure of Stirling et al.’s study?

  Compared 30 SZ with control group of 30 on cognitive tasks such as the Stroop test, which requires participants to suppress an automatic response to name the font colour
• Findings of Stirling’s study?

  Those with SZ took twice as long suggesting impaired central control
• What is a limitation of the cognitive explanations for SZ?

  They only explain the proximal causes of SZ (what is happening right now to produce symptoms) without addressing the distal causes such as genetic factors or childhood trauma
• What role does the diathesis stress model play in explaining SZ?

  Family dysfunction and childhood trauma may act as stress factors that activate SZ in those genetically predisposed