Schizophrenia Q 5
Which factor is associated with increased risk for schizophrenia?
A. Alcoholism
B. Adolescent pregnancy
C. Overcrowded schools
D. Poverty
Correct Answer: D. Poverty
Low socioeconomic status or poverty is an identified environmental factor associated with an increased incidence of schizophrenia. A criticism of this research field, which is in fact a criticism relevant to much social science research, is that the investigation of socio-environmental factors in the environment invariably focuses on poverty and deprivation to the exclusion of other important variables. One such variable is income inequality. Income inequality is a measure of the ‘rich-poor gap’ in any given society and therefore it exists at the ecological level.
Option A: Harmful alcohol and other drug use, particularly cannabis and amphetamine use, may trigger psychosis in people who are vulnerable to developing schizophrenia. While substance use does not cause schizophrenia, it is strongly related to relapse. People with schizophrenia are more likely than the general population to use alcohol and other drugs, and this is detrimental to treatment.
Option B: There are also arguments that schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder based on abnormalities present in the cerebral structure, an absence of gliosis suggesting in utero changes, and the observation that motor and cognitive impairments in patients precede the illness onset. Risk factors include birthing complications, the season of birth, severe maternal malnutrition, maternal influenza in pregnancy, family history, childhood trauma, social isolation, cannabis use, minority ethnicity, and urbanization.
Option C: Although overcrowded schools may be stressful, research does not show they increase the risk of schizophrenia. Socio-environmental risk factors for schizophrenia can be classified in terms of individual factors and neighborhood-level or ecological factors. Individual factors include unemployment, low socioeconomic status, and migration (Byrne et al, 2004; Cooper, 2005; Marwaha & Johnson, 2004; Subramanian & Kawachi, 2004), while neighborhood-level factors include urbanicity, ethnic density, and deprivation (Kirkbride et al, 2007; Krabbendam & van Os, 2005; van Os et al, 2005).