AO1

• What is the interactionist approach?

  • Sometimes called the biosocial approach
  • Biological, psychological, and social factors into the development of SCH
  • Biological: genetic vulnerability, neurochemical and neurological abnormality
  • Psychological: stress - life events etc
  • Social: poor interaction from, for example, family
• What is the diathesis-stress model?

  • One way to present the interactionist approach
  • Diathesis means vulnerability, stress simply means a negative event
  • The model states that both a vulnerability and a stress-event is needed for the development of SCH
  • One or more predispositions make a person vulnerable but they need the onset of stress to trigger SCH
• What is Meehl's model?


  • The original diathesis model (1962)was entirely genetic, as a result of one single 'schizogene'
  • Lead to the idea of a biologically based schizotypic personality: one characteristic of which is sensitivity to stress
  • Meehl said if a person does not have the schizogene then no amount of stress would lead to SCH
  • However the carriers of the gene, chronic stress through childhood and adolescence (particularly schizophrenogenic mother) could result in the development of the disorder
• What is the modern understanding of Diathesis?

  • Now clear that many genes appear to increase genetic vulnerability only slightly
  • There is no single schizogene (Ripke, 2014)
  • Modern views = range of factors beyond genetic , including psychological trauma (Ingram and Luxton, 2005) - Trauma becomes the diathesis rather than the stressor
  • Read (2001) proposed a neurodevelopment model - early trauma alters the developing brain
  • Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system can become overactive - more vulnerable to stress
• What is the modern understanding of Stress?

  • Modern definition = anything that risks the development of SCH (Houston, 2008) rather than it just being psychological in nature, and only coming from parenting style
  • Recently, research have linked cannabis use to factors triggering an episode of SCH
  • In terms of Diathesis-Stress Model, cannabis = stressor as it increases the risk of SCH by up to 7x
  • However most people do not develop SCH after THC use as they lack the vulnerability factors
• How should someone with SCH be treated according to the interactionist approach?

  • Recognises both biological and psychological so can be treated with both psychological and biological treatments
  • Combing antipsychotic medicine and psychological therapies (most commonly CBT)
  • Turkington: possible to believe in the biological causes of SCH whilst practising CBT, however it requires adopting an interactionist model
  • Britain = increasingly popular to use a combination of antipsychotics and CBT, US = more conflict between models (combined therapies = less popular in US)