interactionist approach

• the interactionist approach views both nature and nurture as playing a role in human development
• the interactionist approach can include

  • diathesis-stress explanations of mental illness
  • critical periods
  • epigenetics
• diathesis-stress is the theory that individuals may inherit a genetic predisposition (diathesis) towards developing a disorder, making them more vulnerable to later environmental events (stress), which may trigger the onset of the disorder

  • e.g. MEEHL's diathesis stress model of schizophrenia