Biological Model of Abnormality

• There are various models of abnormality that explain how abnormal psychology is conceptualized.

The Biological Model

• Conceptualizes abnormal psychology as an illness caused by malfunctioning parts of the organism.
• Focuses on problems in brain anatomy or brain chemistry.
• Current research emphasizes brain circuits rather than single brain areas or chemical dysfunctions.
• Brain circuits involve neurotransmitters, structures, and their functions.
• Proper interconnectivity within brain circuit structures are crucial.
• Size differences in brain structure can contribute to abnormality.
• Differences in connections within brain circuitry can lead to abnormality.
• Genetics play a role in mental disorders.
• Multiple genes often combine to produce dysfunctional actions and reactions.
• Drug therapy is the most common biological treatment.
• Brain stimulation is used in severe, treatment-resistant disorders.
• Psychosurgery is brain surgery for mental disorders and is the least common treatment.
• Antianxiety drugs, antidepressants, antibipolar drugs, and antipsychotic drugs are common drug therapies.
• Brain stimulation approaches include electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and deep brain stimulation.
• Strengths include respect in the field, new information, and effective treatments.
• Weaknesses include excluding non-biological factors and the potential for undesirable effects.

The Psychodynamic Model

• Sigmund Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis.
• Human behavior is determined by unconscious psychological forces.
• Abnormal symptoms result from conflict among these forces.
• It was the first to recognize psychological theories and systematic treatment for abnormality.
• Abnormal functioning is nested in the same processes as normal functioning.
• It may be helpful to persons with long-term, complex disorders.
• Weaknesses include unsupported ideas, difficulty to research, non-observable concepts.

The Cognitive-Behavioral Model

• Focuses on maladaptive behaviors and/or cognitions.
• Shares key principles between behavioral and cognitive perspectives.
• Uses conditioning to change unhelpful behaviors.
• Classical conditioning employs exposure therapy.
• Operant conditioning uses behavioral activation.
• Therapists act as teachers, replacing problematic behaviors with helpful ones.
• Centers on identifying, challenging, and changing unhelpful thinking processes.
• Identifies inaccurate assumptions, attitudes, and illogical thinking.
• Therapists help clients challenge negative thoughts, biased interpretations, and errors in logic.
• Therapists guide clients to new ways of thinking daily.
• Most modern theories and therapies interweave behavioral and cognitive components.
• Example: Social anxiety disorder involves unhelpful thoughts and avoidance behaviors. Exposure therapy is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that challenges unhelpful cognitions and provides graduated exposure to feared situations
• Strengths include efficacy, broad appeal, clinical usefulness, uniquely human process focus, and effective therapies.
• Weaknesses include an undetermined role of cognition, ineffectiveness with everyone, and neglect of early life experiences.
• Cognitions and behaviors do not occur in a vacuum.

The Sociocultural Model

• Abnormal behavior includes social and cultural forces that influence an individual.
• Proponents concentrate on forces that operate directly on individuals.
• Considers family relationships, social interactions, and community events.
• Psychological problems emerge and are best treated in family and social settings.
• Perspective spurred the growth of group, family, couple-marital, and community treatment.
• Group therapy includes support, self-help, and peer groups.
• Family therapy uses a family systems approach.
• Community treatment includes primary and secondary prevention.
• All behavior and treatment are best understood in the context of culture, cultural values, and external pressures.
• VS the more direct, individually-based influences addressed in the family-social perspective.
• Cultural intersectionality examines how memberships across multiple cultural groups shape experiences.
• Poor treatment outcomes for members of ethnic and racial minority groups.
• Therapist effectiveness with minority patients is enhanced via sensitivity to cultural issues, and inclusion of cultural morals and models.
• Strengths include added clinical understanding, increased awareness of clinical and social roles.
• Weaknesses include difficulty in interpretation of research and the inability to predict abnormality in specific individuals.

Developmental Psychopathology Perspective

• Uses an integrative framework to understand adaptive and maladaptive human functioning.
• Emphasizes time and development to explain psychological disorders.
• Equifinality refers to different factors leading to similar outcomes.
• Multifinality refers to similar factors leading to different outcomes.

The biological model views abnormal psychology as an illness caused by malfunctioning parts of the organism, often focusing on brain anatomy, chemistry, and circuitry. Genetics and brain stimulation also play a role in mental disorders. Drug therapy is a common biological treatment.