genetics

• Schizophrenia


  A mental disorder with a genetic basis
• Genetic basis of schizophrenia


  • Demonstrated through family studies
  • Gottesman (1991) meta-analysis of 40 family studies
  • Concordance rates of different family members
• An individual has a 48% chance of having schizophrenia if their monozygotic twin also had it
• An individual has a 17% chance of having schizophrenia if their dizygotic twin also had it
• An individual has a 9% chance of having schizophrenia if their regular sibling also had it
• Level of genetic 'closeness'

  Correlates with risk of getting schizophrenia
• The correlation between genetic closeness and risk of schizophrenia could also account for the influence of external factors due to families often sharing a similar environment
• the concordance rate (CR) is the percentage of identical twins who both have the same condition, e.g. if one twin has schizophrenia then what's the chance their other twin will also have it.
• genetic explanation is that there are genes which predispose people to develop the disorder
• ao3 - implications (1)


  can improve understanding of the disorder and assist in treatment and prevention/intervention
• ao3 - implications (2)


  creates a sense of blame and responsibility for the family due to 'passing it on' - social sensitivity
• ao3 - Morkved et al. (1)


  67% schizophrenics had gone through at least one traumatic event prior to diagnosis
• ao3 - Morkved et al. (2)


  environmental factors (poverty, addiction, family relationships) suggested to play a role in the development of schizophrenia - reduces reliability of research as it does not account for these factors, instead indicating a vulnerability rather than a cause