Assignment: The Diathesis-Stress Model

Assignment: The Diathesis-Stress Model

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Most psychologists today agree that it is important to look at the biological, psychological, and social factors that are involved with the etiology and treatment of mental disorders. The Diathesis-Stress model proposes that genetic and/or psychological vulnerabilities, combined with individual or environmental stressors, leads to distress and/or dysfunction and the possible development of psychological disorders.

For this assignment, you will select two of the disorders we have discussed in Lessons 2, 3, and 4 (e.g. generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, etc.) and discuss the following.

Symptomology – Give a thorough description of the specific characteristics of two (2) disorders.
Etiology – Discuss the etiology of the disorders from a diathesis-stress model perspective. Include biological, psychological, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of the disorder.
Treatment – Describe two (2) treatment approaches for each disorder.
The diathesis–stress model is a psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability and a stress caused by life experiences. The term diathesisderives from the Greek term (διάθεσις) for a predisposition, or sensibility. A diathesis can take the form of genetic, psychological, biological, or situational factors.[1] A large range of differences exists among individuals’ vulnerabilities to the development of a disorder.[1][2]

The diathesis, or predisposition, interacts with the individual’s subsequent stress response. Stress is a life event or series of events that disrupts a person’s psychological equilibrium and may catalyze the development of a disorder.[3]Thus the diathesis–stress model serves to explore how biological or genetic traits (diatheses) interact with environmental influences (stressors) to produce disorders such as depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia.[4]

The diathesis–stress model asserts that if the combination of the predisposition and the stress exceeds a threshold, the person will develop a disorder.[5]

The use of the term diathesis in medicine and in the specialty of psychiatry dates back to the 1800s; however, the diathesis–stress model was not introduced and used to describe the development of psychopathology until it was applied to explaining schizophrenia in the 1960s by Paul Meehl.[6][1] The diathesis–stress model is used in many fields of psychology, specifically for studying the development of psychopathology.[7] It is useful for the purposes of understanding the interplay of nature and nurture in the susceptibility to psychological disorders throughout the lifespan.[7] Diathesis–stress models can also assist in determining who will develop a disorder and who will not.[8] For example, in the context of depression, the diathesis–stress model can help explain why Person A may become depressed while Person B does not, even when exposed to the same stressors.[7] More recently, the diathesis–stress model has been used to explain why some individuals are more at risk for developing a disorder than others.[9] For example, children who have a family history of depression are generally more vulnerable to developing a depressive disorder themselves. A child who has a family history of depression and who has been exposed to a particular stressor, such as exclusion or rejection by his or her peers, would be more likely to develop depression than a child with a family history of depression that has an otherwise positive social network of peers.[9]

The diathesis–stress model has also served as useful in explaining other poor (but non-clinical) developmental outcomes.

Protective factors, such as positive social networks or high self-esteem, can counteract the effects of stressors and prevent or curb the effects of disorder.[10] Many psychological disorders have a window of vulnerability, during which time an individual is more likely to develop disorder than others.[11] Diathesis–stress models are often conceptualized as multi-causal developmental models, which propose that multiple risk factors over the course of development interact with stressors and protective factors contributing to normal development or psychopathology.[12] The differential susceptibility hypothesis is a recent theory that has stemmed from the diathesis–stress model