Genetics

• Genetics look at how you inherit physical and behavioural characteristics including medical conditions from biological parents.
• Schizophrenia

  Glatt- In terms of schizophrenia a concordance rate of 50% was found for identical twins but only a 15% concordance rate for fraternal twins which suggested there was a genetic component to schizophrenia. Although the more similar genetically the more similar the rearing environment making it difficult to separate nature and nurture.

  Tienari- Studied adopted children with and without a schizophrenic biological mother. The rate of schizophrenia was 4x higher in those with the biological schizophrenic mother suggesting there is a genetic link.
• Phobias

  Preparedness theory is for example when a phobia of snakes is passed on as the person scared of snakes who runs away is more likely to survive than the person who isn’t and gets bitten. This fear is passed on through genes to the next generation in order to allow them to survive.
• Gottesman

  Aim- if one parent has schizophrenia and the other has bipolar which disorder will the child inherit

  Sample- 2.7 million Danish people

  Results- when both parents were diagnosed with schizophrenia 27.3% of offspring were also diagnosed with schizophrenia but 10.8% were diagnosed with bipolar. when neither parent was diagnosed with a disorder only 0.86% of offspring were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Showing that offspring were more likely to have a disorder if a parent had a disorder than if they had no disorder & they were more likely to inherit a disorder if both parents had it
• Evaluation of Gottesman

  Population Validity- only used Danish people in the study so findings can’t be generalised to places with different healthcare systems

  Cause and Effect- shows genetics can lead to disorders so can treat people but doesn’t explain what else might be influencing development

  Socially Sensitive- can lead to labelling, if parents have a disorder people may think offspring will develop the disorder which can affect the way they are treated
• Individual explanation- This is when factors with a personal contributing to behaviour. Gottesman found a genetic explanation for mental disorders that are within someone and don’t depend on the situation. This is positive as it means early intervention is possible and people can seek treatment sooner rather than later. However, this overlooks situational factors in the family such as childhood trauma causing a disorder.
• Socially Sensitive- The genetic explanation can lead to labelling people as potential risks and cause offence. Gottesman found concordance rates increased for schizophrenia the closer biologically related people were to each other. This is an issue as labelling someone as a risk may lead to a self fulfilling prophecy which could increase chances of developing a disorder. However, it is worth studying and looking into as it gives academic knowledge that can benefit individuals and families.