Interactionist Explanation

• What is the Interactionist explanation?

  • Diathesis stress model
  • All psychological disorders are caused by the combination of a gene (diathesis) and a triggering event (stress)
• What counts as stress?

  Anything that triggers the biological predisposition e.g:

  • Cannabis use increases the risk of Sz by up to 7 times
  • People living in urban environments are 2 times more likely to develop Sz than people living in rural areas
• Strength of Interactionist Explanation - Research Support

  • Tienari's adoption study
  • He interviewed the adoptive families of the offspring of Sz patients and categorised them as healthy or unhealthy based on empathy, conflict and security
  • The offspring of Sz parents were significantly less likely to develop Sz if they were placed with a healthy adoptive family
• Limitation of Diathesis Stress Model - Too Simplistic?

  • It has been found that the rates of Sz are higher for those born in spring
  • This could be linked to viruses exposed to in the womb or shortly after birth
  • This means the diathesis could be any biological predisposition such as brain damage
• Strength of Interactionist Explanation - Biological and Psychological treatments work well together

  • Tarrier et al
  • Randomly allocated patients to either a medication + CBT group and one group that just took medication
  • Patients in combined group showed lower levels of symptoms than control group