Interactionist Approach

• What is the interactionist approach?

  A holistic approach that acknowledged that there are biological and psychological factors in the development of SZ
• What model can be used to present the interactionist approach?

  Diathesis stress model
• What does diathesis mean?

  Vulnerability
• What is ‘stress’?

  Environmental factors that trigger the development of SZ
• What does the diathesis stress model suggest about SZ?

  A person may be born with a predisposition towards SZ which is then triggered by stress in everyday life
• Advantage: Holistic approach


  As it considers all factors, the interactionist approach avoids issues of reductionism seen in the biological or psychological approach
• Advantage: Real world application

  Can be applied to the combination of drug treatment and psychological therapies
• Who conducted a study that showed combining treatments enhances effectiveness?

  Tarrier et al.
• Tarrier et al. randomly allocated 315 participants to 3 groups. 2 experimental groups (combination of medication and CBT or counselling) and a control group (medication only)
• What did Tarrier et al. find?

  Participants in the two combination groups showed lower symptoms following the trial than the mediation only group
• Who found research support using adoption study?

  Tienari (2004)
• Tienari et al.’s study:

  Studied biological children of schizophrenic mothers who were then adopted in Finland. Adoptive parents were assessed for child rearing style. Rates of SZ were compared to control group of adoptees without any genetic risk
• Findings of Tienari‘s study

  Children rearing style characterised by high levels of criticism and lower levels of empaphy was associated with development of SZ but only in children with genetic risk
• Weakness: Treatment issues


  Cannot conclusively say which treatment plan addressing each area works best. Providing many different types of treatments will be expensive and increasingly complex