RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the interaction of genetic risk and rearing-family risk as a subsyndromal test measure of schizophrenic thought disorder in adoptees. METHOD: A group of 58 adoptees with schizophrenic biological mothers was compared with 96 comparison adoptees at ordinary genetic risk; putative adoptee vulnerability was assessed blindly and reliably by using the Rorschach Index of Primitive Thought. Environmental risk was measured by using frequency of communication deviance as a continuous variable, scored independently from Rorschach assessments of the adoptive parents. RESULTS: High genetic risk in itself was not associated with greater vulnerability to schizophrenic thought disorder in the adoptees, as indicated by the Index of Primitive Thought. Also, greater communication deviance in the adoptive parents was not associated with greater thought disorder in the comparison adoptees. However, there was a highly significant gene-environment interaction. Among the offspring of the adoptive parents with high levels of communication deviance, a higher proportion of high-risk than comparison adoptees showed evidence of thought disorder. In contrast, among the offspring of adoptive parents with low communication deviance, a lower proportion of high-risk than comparison adoptees showed evidence of thought disorder. The distribution of communication deviance scores did not differ significantly between the adoptive parents of high-risk offspring and the adoptive parents of comparison offspring. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with genetic control of sensitivity to the environment. There is no evidence that high genetic risk of schizophrenia among offspring is associated with high levels of communication problems in rearing parents.
Asunto(s)
Familia , Esquizofrenia/etiología , Esquizofrenia/genética , Medio Social , Adopción , Adulto , Trastornos de la Comunicación/diagnóstico , Trastornos de la Comunicación/epidemiología , Trastornos de la Comunicación/genética , Femenino , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Modelos Genéticos , Oportunidad Relativa , Esquizofrenia/epidemiología , Psicología del EsquizofrénicoRESUMEN
A nationwide Finnish sample of schizophrenics' offspring given up for adoption was compared blindly with matched controls, who were adopted offspring of non-schizophrenic biological parents. The adoptive families were investigated thoroughly using joint and individual interviews and psychological tests. The biological parents were also interviewed and tested. Among the 155 index offspring, the percentage of both psychoses and other severe diagnoses (borderline syndrome and severe personality disorders) was significantly higher than in the 186 matched control adoptees. This supports a genetic hypothesis. However, notable differences between these two groups only emerged in the families which were rated as disturbed. Thus the genetic effect (i.e. the differences between high and low genetic propensity) was only manifested as a psychiatric disorder in the presence of a disturbed family environment. The impact of disturbed family relations was strongest in the presence of the appropriate genotype.
Asunto(s)
Adopción/psicología , Esquizofrenia/genética , Psicología del Esquizofrénico , Medio Social , Adolescente , Adulto , Trastorno de Personalidad Limítrofe/genética , Trastorno de Personalidad Limítrofe/psicología , Niño , Hijo de Padres Discapacitados/psicología , Preescolar , Femenino , Finlandia , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Lactante , Masculino , Trastornos Paranoides/genética , Trastornos Paranoides/psicología , Determinación de la Personalidad , Factores de Riesgo , Prueba de Rorschach , Esquizofrenia Paranoide/genética , Esquizofrenia Paranoide/psicologíaRESUMEN
Many family therapists have observed that the family's choice of seat in the family therapy session provides information concerning the inner structure of the family. The purpose of this study was to study certain aspects of this observation. The selection of seats in family therapy sessions and the mutual distances between family members were investigated for 13 families. The inner structure of the family is described in terms of the existence of problematic relationships and the distribution and quality of power as assessed by the family therapists. The family members' selection of seats in the family therapy session was compared to the sitting order at meals, watching TV at home, and family drawings. It was found that the distance between the father and the patient (a son or daughter) and the location of the father and the mother in relation to each other in the family therapy are more related to the inner structure of the family than to situational factors.