Environmental Etiology of Schizophrenia

A set of flashcards reviewing key concepts from the lecture on the environmental etiology of schizophrenia.

What percentage of the risk of developing schizophrenia is attributed to genetic factors?

Approximately 65%.

What percentage of the risk for schizophrenia is due to environmental factors?

Approximately 35%.

What is the Latent Vulnerability Model in relation to schizophrenia?

It describes how latent characteristics require specific conditions to manifest and must have predictive value for future psychiatric disorders.

Which environmental factors are most consistently associated with schizophrenia?

Maternal immune activation, childhood trauma, substance use, and urbanicity.

What does maternal immune activation during pregnancy lead to?

Altered fetal brain development due to maternal infection causing an immune response.

What impact does childhood trauma have on the development of schizophrenia?

It can cause prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids, which is neurotoxic and leads to psychiatric problems.

What was the Population Attributable Risk (PAR) of childhood trauma in schizophrenia according to the study by Varese et al.?

Approximately 33%, meaning that 16% to 47% of those diagnosed may not have schizophrenia if they had not experienced childhood trauma.

How does cannabis use relate to the onset of schizophrenia?

Cannabis can prolong the persistence of subthreshold psychotic experiences and lead to clinical psychotic disorders when used repeatedly.

What does research say about urbanicity in relation to schizophrenia risk?

Higher population density predicts a higher incidence of psychosis.

What role does epigenetics play in the environmental etiology of schizophrenia?

It studies how environmental factors can cause reversible cellular changes that affect gene expression.