A03: The Interactionist Approach to SZ

• Evaluation A03: Interactionist Approach


  +Research Support for Diathesis Stress Model

  +Practical Applications

  -Research Against practical application strength
• A03: Research Support for diathesis stress model - IA: P1

  P: Support for diathesis stress model from Tienari (2004) in her investigation into genetic vulnerability and parenting style (trigger)

  E: She studied 19,000 children who were born to mothers of sz in Finland from 1960-1979 and adopted into non-sz families

  E: She assessed the adoptive parents on child-rearing styles and compared the children with a control group with no genetic risk.
• A03: Research Support for diathesis stress model - IA: P2

  E: Found child rearing styles associated with high levels of criticism and conflict and low levels of empathy was implicated in the development of sz but only in those from the experimental group where there was a genetic risk (not control)

  L: This is clearly strong support for the model but also it reduces the blame directed onto the parents that parenting style is a causal factor.

  This shows that a combination of genetic vulnerability and family stress leads to increased risk of sz.
• A03: Causation correlation IA: PART 1

  P: We should be careful not to fall victim to treatment-causation fallacy when looking at solely biological/psychological approaches

  E: This is assumption that coz treatment works that the cause must be whatever the treatment treats, e.g. assuming that if drugs work that Sz is caused by excess dopamine or coz CBT works that Sz is the result of faulty cognitions

  E:Jarvis and Okami (2019) suggest this argument is the same as claiming that because alcohol reduces shyness, shyness is caused by a lack of alcohol, the treatment-causation fallacy.
• A03: Causation correlation IA: PART 2

  E: This is dangerous as often therapies treat the symptoms not the underlying cause meaning the real cause of sz may just be suppressed by drug treatment or family therapy and as soon as therapy stops the symptoms return

  L: Diathesis-Stress avoids this as a combination of treatments allows both the symptoms and the causes to be addressed in tandem and therefore likely to have a greater impact.

  
  

  Therefore we cant automatically assume that the success of combine therapies means interactionist explanations are correct
• A03: HARD TO UNDERSTAND: IA: PART 1

  P: It is hard to argue with an interactionist approach based on research support & how it addresses the flaws of other explanations

  E: Biological approaches and psychological approaches have come in and out of favour over the years—psychological explanations fell by the wayside when it was realised how important genes were. But nowadays there is a greater significance placed on psychological triggers such as stress.
• A03: HARD TO UNDERSTAND: IA: PART 2

  E: Twin studies are perfect example of how interactionism is important in the onset of Sz as coz, whilst both twins will have inherited the same genes, they may experience different interactions within the family, different stressful life events, or a different pre-natal environment in terms of placenta size & nutrition. Thus, the diathesis may be triggered in one twin but not the other. 
• A03: HARD TO UNDERSTAND: IA: PART 3

  L: It seems adopting either of the extremes on the heredity/env debate is a mistake. Most theories have now abandoned extreme positions & research is now pursuing the acknowledgment & influences of both env & biological factors & trying to figure out exactly in which ways they interact to lead to the development of schizophrenia.
• RS Interactionist Treatments: A03 IA

  P: IT considered be superior to any other form

  Tarrier (2004) show this in his study of 315 randomly allocated patients to either (1) medication + CBT condition, (2) medication + supportive counselling condition or (3) control group (medication only)

  Patients engaging in combination therapy (1&2) greater reduction in symptom severity vs treated only with drugs (control group)- but no difference in hospital readmission.

  L: So practical advantage of interactionist approach in form of superior treatment outcomes rather than just psy/bio treatments.
• -ve: Diathesis-stress model is oversimplistic - IA A03:

  Multiple genes increase vulnerability, each with a small effect on its own - there is no schizogene. Stress comes in many forms, including dysfunctional parenting.

  • Researchers now believe stress can also include biological factors. For example Houston et al (2008) found childhood sexual trauma was a diathesis and cannabis use a trigger

  This means that there are multiple factors, biological & psychological, affecting both diathesis and stress.