title: The attitudes of psychiatrists toward etiological theories of schizophrenia.
abstract: This study is an analysis of psychiatrists' opinions on the etiology of schizophrenia. A random sample of members of the American Psychiatric Association uncovers a general hesitation on their part to subscribe to any particular etiological theory. Only four theories are viewed as causally related to schizophrenia: social isolation, cognitive breakdown, biochemical imbalance, and maternal deprivation. Attitudes toward etiological theories are significantly different among psychoanalysts, behaviorists, and eclectics. Attitudes also are related to the setting in which the psychiatrist practices.
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001527:Behaviorism; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications; D004309:Double Bind Interaction; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D007325:Institutional Practice; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000150:complications; D011331:Private Practice; D011570:Psychiatry; D011572:Psychoanalysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012934:Social Isolation; D012951:Socialization; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013812:Therapeutics; D014481:United States