Synonyms
Definition
A model of psychopathology in which the emergence of psychological disorders results from an interaction between an individual’s inherent vulnerability for developing the disorder and the individual’s experience of stressful events.
Introduction
The diathesis-stress model of psychopathology is a framework for understanding the development of psychological disorders. According to the general model, each individual possesses some degree of inherent vulnerability (i.e., diathesis) for developing a given disorder. Onset of a disorder can then be triggered by environmental stress; however, the amount or intensity of stress required to trigger a disorder depends on the extent to which the individual is inherently vulnerable. For example, the greater an individual’s vulnerability to a disorder, the smaller the amount of stress needed to trigger the development of the disorder. This interaction between diathesis and stress can help to explain why...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Bleuler, M. (1963). Conception of schizophrenia within the last fifty years and today. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 56, 945–952.
Kendler, K. S., Kessler, R. C., Walters, E. E., MacLean, C., Neale, M. C., Heath, A. C., & Eaves, L. J. (1995). Stressful life events, genetic liability, and onset of an episode of major depression in women. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 152(6), 833–842. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.152.6.833.
McKeever, V. M., & Huff, M. E. (2003). A diathesis-stress model of posttraumatic stress disorder: Ecological, biological, and residual stress pathways. Review of General Psychology, 7, 237–250.
Meehl, P. E. (1962). Schizotaxia, schizotypy, schizophrenia. American Psychologist, 17, 827–838.
Monroe, S. M., & Simons, A. D. (1991). Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: Implications for the depressive disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 110(3), 406–425. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.3.406.
Rosenthal, D. (1963). A suggested conceptual framework. In D. Rosenthal (Ed.), The Genian quadruplets (pp. 505–516). New York: Basic Books.
Sullivan, P. F., Kendler, K. S., & Neale, M. C. (2003). Schizophrenia as a complex trait: Evidence from a meta-analysis of twin studies. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(12), 1187–1192. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.60.12.1187.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Broerman, R. (2018). Diathesis-Stress Model. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_891-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_891-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences