Abnormal Psychology

66 CHAPTER 2

2000). However, the degree to which acculturation is stressful and increases the risk

for psychological disorders depends on other factors, such as the degree of difference

in values between the native and new cultures, the reasons for leaving the native coun-

try (traumatic causes for leaving such as war and famine can have strong effects), the

change in SES status that results from immigration, and the degree of discrimination

encountered in the new culture. In the absence of these other factors, moving to a new

culture is not necessarily associated with later psychological disorders (Kohn, 2002).

Paradoxically, individuals who have immigrated to the United States tend to

have lower rates of psychological disorders than their American-born counterparts

of similar age (Alegría et al., 2008; Nguyen, 2006). One possible explanation for

this counterintuitive fi nding is that people who voluntarily leave their native coun-

tries to live elsewhere may be particularly psychologically hardy and better able to

weather the stresses of immigration. Moreover, not all groups of immigrants are

equally psychologically robust: Puerto Rican immigrants are affl icted with psycho-

logical disorders at the same rates as their American-born counterparts whose fami-

lies immigrated earlier from Puerto Rico. Immigrants from Mexico, in contrast, are

less likely to suffer from psychological disorders than are American-born people of

Mexican descent (Alegría et al., 2008).

Feedback Loops in Action: Learned

Helplessness

We have stressed that neurological, psychological, and social factors do not occur in

isolation, but rather affect each other. Let’s examine the phenomenon of learned

helplessnessin more detail to understand the feedback loops between the three

sorts of factors (Zhukov & Vinogradova, 1998). Consider that when rats receive

uncontrollable shock (as compared to controllable shock), neurological events in

the brain change (Amat et al., 2001); for example, serotonin levels decrease (Amat

et al., 1998; Edwards et al., 1992; Petty, Kramer, & Wilson, 1992), and the density

of receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA increases in particular brain regions

(Kram et al., 2000). Furthermore, rats can be bred to be more inclined or more re-

sistant to developing learned helplessness, which suggests that genetic factors may

contribute to whether a rat is vulnerable to this outcome (Kohen et al., 2003).

P S

N

Key Concepts and Facts About Social Factors in Psychological Disorders

• Social factors can help to protect us from developing psycho-
  logical disorders, or they can make us more vulnerable to or
  exacerbate psychological disorders. Such factors begin to exert
  their infl uence before adulthood and can affect each generation
  differently, as a culture changes over time.


• A family’s style of interacting that involves high expressed emo-
  tion can contribute to relapse in patients with schizophrenia
  from particular ethnic or cultural groups.


• Being maltreated as a child indirectly contributes to the devel-
  opment of psychological disorders by:
  
  
  • increasing stress,
  
  
  • teaching maladaptive behaviors,
  
  
  • promoting biases in discriminating among and responding
    to facial expressions,
  
  
  • creating diffi culties in attachment, and
  
  
  • increasing social isolation.
    
    
    • Psychological disorders in parents can contribute to psychologi-
      cal disorders in their children, although it is diffi cult to pinpoint
      the specifi c mechanism through which this infl uence occurs.
    
    
    • Social support can buffer against stress, and a lack of social
      support can make people more vulnerable to psychological
      disorders.
    
    
    • Low SES is associated with a higher rate of psychological dis-
      orders; both social causation and social selection contribute to
      this relationship.
    
    
    • Being the object of discrimination is associated with an in-
      creased risk of distress and psychological disorders.
    
    
    • Different personality traits and behaviors are valued in differ-
      ent cultures; thus, acculturation can lead to conflict among
      family members, creating stress and a risk of psychological
      disorders.