ABSTRACT
In view of the nature of schizophrenia, the wide range of theories about its cause should come as no surprise. Somatogenic approaches have focused on the role of genetic factors and have concentrated on identifying abnormalities in brain structure and function. Psychogenic approaches have emphasised the effects of adverse childhood experiences, particularly abnormalities in family interactions, in the aetiology of the disorder. A recent approach in family-oriented research has been to test the link between family tension (measured by expressed emotion) and recurrence of illness following recovery from the acute episode. Another relatively new approach examines the roles of cognitive and neuropsychological abnormalities in the development of particular symptoms.
