Question

What are the risk and causal factors associated with schzophrenia?

Chapter 13, Abnormal Psychology, 16 edition

Answer 1

There are many risk factors and causes associated with schizophrenia, such as brain, structure, neurotransmitter genes and stress:

Neurotransmitters: The neurotransmitter dopamine is is found to be in excess in some parts of the brain in patients with schizophrenia. The neurotransmitter serotonin is found to less in some parts of the brain. This is not to say that these neurotransmitters cause schizophrenia, but they are associated with it.

Brain Structure and Injury: The brain structure of patients with schizophrenia has found to be different from normal people. Patients with schizophrenia have shown to have enlarged ventricles and reduced hippocampus volume. Research has found that brain injuries or illness during the sensitive periods of development can increase the likelihood of a person getting schizophrenia

Genes: Schizophrenia is also seen to be passed on through the genes, and has a genetic component. There is a concordance rate of about 48 percent for identical twins, and if both the parents have schizophrenia then there is 46 percent chance of the child developing schizophrenia.

Stress: The stress diathesis model states that some people are more prone to manifest a certain disorder when they are exposed to high levels of stress. So, people who are vulnerable to developing schizophrenia may develop it if they experience severe stress.