Adoption studies go one step further in narrowing down a strong correlational link by ruling out the effect of environment on development of schizophrenia to illustrate the genetic link more clearly. They do this by comparing adopted children to their biological parents to determine links with schizophrenia. Kendler found that first degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia are 18 times more at risk of developing the condition as the general population. Illustrating the genetic predisposition within families who share genes, strongly supporting the genetic explanation as there is such a high concordance rate. However this study can be criticised because of its retrospective analysis after the disorder had developed, thus it may be more conclusive if a prospective study was conducted to show the ‘before and after’ effects within families.
Family studies carried out by Gottesman in 1991 helped to look into this further. His studies concluded the following: Throughout the general population, 1% had the disease, 13% of children of people with it suffered but the highest family group connected to the person who suffered from schizophrenia was identical twins with 47%. This information proves that there is obviously a link between genetics and schizophrenia as it would seem the more genetically linked you are to a person suffering from schizophrenia, the more likely it is for that person to suffer from it themselves. However, the highest percentage of people most likely to inherit the disease from another person, identical twins, only account for 47% which is less than half of the population who could inherit, meaning that genetics are not entirely to blame and cant be seen as a completely accurate explanation for schizophrenia. The current belief is that there are a number of genes that contribute to susceptibility of schizophrenia, but none exhibit full responsibility for the disease.
“It occurs in 10 percent of people who have a first-degree relative with the disorder, such as a parent, brother, or sister. People who have second-degree relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousins) with the disease also develop schizophrenia more often than the general population” (Schizophrenia, 2009). There isn’t just one gene that is associated with schizophrenia, but scientists believe there are several genes that are linked to the disorder. “Other recent studies suggest that schizophrenia may result in part when a certain gene that is key to making important brain chemicals malfunctions. This problem may affect the part of the brain involved in developing higher functioning skills” (Schizophrenia, 2009).
The risk of inheriting schizophrenia ranges from about 10% for those who have one first-degree family member (mother, father, sister, brother) with the disease to about 40%-65% if the disease affects both parents and an identical twin. However,
The risk is highest for an identical twin of a person with schizophrenia. He or she has a 40 to 65 percent chance of developing the disorder (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 2009). It’s been proven that schizophrenia does run in families. However, the fact that there are multiple causes for schizophrenia including outside factors such as environmental causes proves the point further that no test screening is ever completely and entirely accurate. For example, just because a person gets the screening, and it comes back negative, doesn’t mean they may not develop schizophrenia later on in life.
Studies of families researched by Weissman found that those with a first degree relative suffering depression, are ten times more likely to develop depression themselves, suggesting such illness could ‘run in the family’ or have a genetic cause. However a behavioural approach would refute this idea and suggest that this is due to a shared environment of the family, who also share the same life events which could trigger the depression. Furthermore, they may suggest
The first explanation of phobias is the genetic explanation, which argues that phobias are hereditary. Most if the family studies conducted by researchers have found that relatives of those with phobias are more likely to suffer phobias themselves compared with relatives of non-phobic controls. A twin study by Slater and Shields 1969 found 41% concordance in 17MZ twin pairs versus 4% in 28 DZ twin pairs for any type of anxiety disorder. However even though studies have proven to support the genetic problems there are a number of difficulties with family studies. The main problem is that in most cases family members share the same environment so it can be argued that it was the environment that caused them to equally learn the behaviour instead of the genetic relationship.
Com) - “A unique research project based at Aarhus University will be known as “The Lund beck Foundations Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric [Research, iPSYCH, 2012, 225]”. The grant of DKK 121 m from the Lund Beck foundation is the largest grant ever awarded to Danish psychiatric research. One critic says “Is it possible to prevent the development of schizophrenia? Can certain patients develop autism if they carry a specific gene and have been exposed to a viral fetal injection? Should all ADHD patients take the same type of medication?” (News RX [Health], 2012).
The Office of National Statistics, interviewed parents, teachers, and children themselves, and found that many suffer from emotional problems such as depression, anxiety and aggression. Statistics show that over a 3 year period, children whose parents were split up were 4.53 more likely to develop emotional problems than those whose parents were still in one household, and were 2.87 times more likely to demonstrate the start of behavioral disorders. Edmondson, Brad/Waldrop, Judith “Single Parents Statistics” American Demographics, Dec93, Vol. 15 Issue 12, p36, 2p, 2 Charts, 1 Graph. Per the US Census Bureau single parents consist of “other families” which are households of unmarried couples.
Nick Almeida Stephanie Branch Rachel Johnson Intro. Abnormal Psychology Adolescent Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects about 1% of the total population. It is characterized by sets of positive and negative symptoms which vary from patient to patient, but in general affects the normal functioning in social and occupational settings. The focus of this paper will be on the causes, diagnoses, and treatments associated with adolescent schizophrenia. It is important to effectively understand adolescent schizophrenia because the disorder can last a lifetime; learning the base causes, the dynamics of a strong diagnosis, and the most effective treatments can greatly improve a patient’s probability