Important notice
The course guide is provisional.
The PDF version of the course guide may take a few days to become available in the DDD.
Integrated Approach to the Origin of Mental Disorders: Biology, Person and Environment
Code: 43880Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Research in Clinical Psychology and Health | OP | 1 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Neus Vidal Barrantes
- Email :
- neus.barrantes@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
It is advisable to have previously studied psychopathology courses.
Objectives
The overall objective of this module is to provide an integrated view of causality in psychopathology, considering the interaction of genetic, biological, social and person factors. It aims to cover an aspect that is rarely addressed in undergraduate courses: the integration of knowledge that comes from different disciplines (genetics, neurosciences, epidemiology, basic, evolutionary, clinical and social psychology, etc.) in relation to the origin of mental disorders.
One of the fundamental gaps in psychopathology is over-fragmentation. However, it is increasingly evident that mental disorders can only be explained by complex approaches. This module aims to make an integrative journey by placing the focus of attention on two aspects that still receive little attention in psychopathology. Beyond the presentation of risk factors, it is sought to deepen (1) into the interaction between genetic-biological, person and sociocultural factors, since this interaction is, in itself, a causal agent that transcends the presence of risk factors separately; and (2) the psychological mechanisms that mediate or translate the effect of risk factors into a state of vulnerability or resilience to disorders.
Although psychoses and affective disorders will be taken as fundamental examples, this integrative approach is carried out from a transversal perspective, providing a conceptual framework of knowledge in psychopathology applicable to the origin of any mental disorder. In addition, these new concepts are very useful for clinical case formulation, and profoundly affect our understanding of psychological treatments.
Learning outcomes
- Recognise the main etiological influences of psychological disorders.
- Analyse and understand different risk factors.
- Interpret the genetic-environmental interaction in a scientific article.
- Contrast the results of the research based on the biological-environment interaction with those that only contemplate one of those factors.
- Search for information in scientific literature using appropriate channels and integrate such information to propose and contextualize a research topic.
- Use scientific terminology to argue the results of research in the context of scientific production, to understand and interact effectively with other professionals.
- Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
- Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
Contents
The module will train the student in the fundamental concepts of the field of study of causation (etiology) in mental disorders, ranging from gene-environment interaction (Ecogenetics) to psychological mechanisms. These are some of the most prominent clinical and research questions that will be addressed:
◊ Reconceptualization of phenotypes: are mental disorders really diseases? Redefinition of psychopathological disorders as networks of symptoms that derive from complex interactions. Examples: the affective and psychotic spectra.
◊ Reconceptualization of the concept of ‘genetic basis of mental disorders’: The genetics of mental disorders is the genetics of sensitivity to the environment.
◊ Reconceptualization of biological bases: Top-down models of environmental influence on brain development.
◊ Reconceptualization of the environment and its measurement: From the \"big data\" of epidemiology to the \"scientific\" measurement of daily life and personal relationships.
◊ Key ‘person’ mediating factors: Temperament, affective attachment, cognitive schemas.
◊ Gene-brain, environment and person interaction: From the concept of \"risk\" to \"differential sensitivity to the environment\".
◊ Impact of these new concepts on clinical formulation and psychological treatments.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision meetings of the written essay and presentation | 7.5 | 0.3 | |
| Presentation of topics and research | 27.5 | 1.1 | |
| Search of relevant scientific information | 10 | 0.4 | |
| Elaboration of the critical essay | 40 | 1.6 | |
| Preparation and performance of the oral presentation | 20 | 0.8 | |
| Reading and studying | 35 | 1.4 | |
| Class discussions | 10 | 0.4 |
The contents will be presented by the instructors in the form of seminars, where they will present not only topical information, but also an analysis of the ideological-theoretical background underlying very different approaches applied to the same research questions. It will be promoted and expected that students have a great degree of participation during the seminars. This will enable them to learn how to formulate questions and reasoned arguments on complex subjects of great novelty. Each of the students will be asked to do \"mental experiments\" to promote the transfer of concepts worked in class to the specific field of their interest (usually the one on which the research work is done). One of the most important aspects will be the work of reflective criticism on the data and conclusions presented to the students. Finally, each student will perform a critical essay on which s/he will have supervision.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV1. Attendance (minimum 90%) and quality of active participation in class | 10% | 0 | 0 | 6, 8 |
| EV3. Oral presentation of the scientific essay. | 50% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| EV2. Elaboration of a scientific essay. | 40% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| The main activity is the elaboration of a critical scientific essay, not a mere review of the literature in a given field. | The goal is to write an essay on a specific scientific question in the field of the module (test of maximum 4 faces to double space plus a sheet of references) and presentation in class. It does not need to be on a specific psychological disorder, given that the focus is the application of the conceptual framework of an integrated approach to the understanding of mental phenomena. The following parameters will be evaluated: | o Proving that the student has reviewed relevant information from different sources (bibliographies, databases, etc). | o Being able to integrate literature that addresses variables from different areas/levels of complexity (e.g., genetic, psychosocial). | o The bility to respond to the scientific question posed, to analyse pros and cons of different approaches in the field and different ideologies underlying research, and to obtain sound conclusions. | o The ability to synthesize complex information with clarity and express complex ideas and a discourse in the written and oral presentation. | Grading criteria | It is compulsory to attend 90% of sessions. | It is compulsory to follow the continous assessment procedure (the single assessment option is not available). | If the student fails the subject, it is possible to be reevaluated if: | a. Not meeting the 'pass criteria'. Students can be reevaluated if their score is below 4,85. | b. Having been assessed on a total of activities weighting two thirds of the total grading of the subject. | A student who has delivered the tests with a weight of 4 or more points (40%) cannot be considered as 'not possible to be evaluated'. |
The document describing grading criteria at the Faculty of Psychology is available at: de PautesAvaluacioPsicologia_2026 . Feedback on Evidence 2 (EV2) will be provided during the oral presentation session for Evidence 3 (EV3). Feedback regarding EV3 will be given after each student's oral presentation.
| The use of AI is not permitted to generate the scientific question to be addressed in the essay (EV2), nor for its conceptualization or drafting. The goal of the module is to learn how to develop complex questions and articulate a complex, well-reasoned argument. Its use is also not permitted for generating EV3. It may only be used as a tool for language review and literature searches. |
Bibliography
Bàsica
Alameda, L., Christy, A., Rodriguez, V., Salazar de Pablo, G., Thrush, M., Shen, Y., Alameda, B., Spinazzola, E., Iacoponi, E., Trotta, G., Carr, E., Ruiz Veguilla, M., Aas, M., Morgan, C., & Murray, R. M. (2021). Association Between Specific Childhood Adversities and Symptom Dimensions in People With Psychosis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Schizophrenia bulletin, 47(4), 975–985. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa199
Barrantes-Vidal, N., Grant, P., Kwapil, T.R. (2015). The role of schizotypy in the study of the etiology of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 41 (suppl. 2), S408-S416.
Barrantes-Vidal, N., Torrecilla, P., Mas-Bermejo, P., Papiol, S., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Rosa, A., & Kwapil, T. (2025). Genetic Differences in Reactivity to the Environment Impact Psychotic-Like and Affective Reactivity in Daily Life. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 51(Suppl 2), S74-S84. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/320999
Barrantes-Vidal, N., Torrecilla, P., Mas-Bermejo, P., Papiol, S., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Jolicoeur-Martineau, A., Kwapil, T. R., & Rosa, A. (2025). Genetic Susceptibility to the Environment Moderates the Impact of Childhood Experiences on Psychotic, Depressive, and Anxiety Dimensions. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 51(Supplement_2), S95-S106. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbad130
Barrantes-Vidal, N., Torrecilla Gonzalez, P., Lavín Gutiérrez, V., Mas-Bermejo, P., Papiol, S., BAKERMANS KRANENBURG, MARIAN., Ijzendoorn, M. H. V., Kwapil, T. R., & Rosa, A. (2025). Time to incorporate positive experiences and outcomes in psychosis research: Genetic differential susceptibility to childhood experiences works for “better and for worse”. Translational Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03663-2
Barzilay, R., Pries, L. K., Moore, T. M., Gur, R. E., van Os, J., Rutten, B. P., & Guloksuz, S. (2022). Exposome and trans-syndromal developmental trajectories toward psychosis. Biological psychiatry global open science, 2(3), 197-205.
Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007). For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current directions in psychological science, 16(6), 300-304.
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009). Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychological bulletin, 135(6), 885.
Belsky, J., Zhang, X., & Sayler, K. (2022). Differential susceptibility 2.0: Are the same children affected by different experiences and exposures?. Development and Psychopathology, 34(3), 1025-1033.
Boyce, W. T., & Ellis, B. J. (2005). Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary–developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity. Development and psychopathology, 17(2), 271-301.
Duncan, L.E. & Keller, M.C. (2011). A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 1041-9.
Ellis, B. J., Boyce, W. T., Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2011). Differential susceptibility to the environment: An evolutionary–neurodevelopmental theory. Development and psychopathology, 23(1), 7-28.
Guloksuz, S., van Os, J., Rutten, B.P.F. (2018). The Exposome Paradigm and the Complexities of Environmental Research in Psychiatry. JAMA Psychiatry, Jun 6.
Jaffee, S.R. (2017). Child Maltreatment and Risk for Psychopathology in Childhood and Adulthood. Annual Review of Clinical Psycholology, 13, 525-551.
McGorry, P. D., Hickie, I. B., Kotov, R., Schmaal, L., Wood, S. J., Allan, S. M.,Altınbaş, K., Boyce, N,. Bringmann, L. F., Caspi, A., Cuthbert, B., Gawęda, Ł., Groen, R. N., Guloksuz, S., Hartmann, J. A., Krueger, R. F., Mei, C., Nieman, D., Öngür, D., Raballo, A., Scheffer, M., Schreuder, M. J., Shah, J. L., Wigman, J. T. W., Yuen, H. P., Nelson, B. (2025). New diagnosis in psychiatry: beyond heuristics. Psychological Medicine, 55, e26. doi:10.1017/S003329172400223X
Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A. & Rutter, M. (2005). Strategy for investigating interactions between measured genes and measured environments. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 473-481.
Pearce, J., Rafiq, S., Simpson, J., & Varese, F. (2019). Perceived discrimination and psychosis: a systematic review of the literature. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. doi: 10.1007/s00127-019-01729-3.
Reiss, D., Leve, L.D. & Neiderhiser, J.M. (2013). How genes and the social environment moderate each other. American Journal of Public Health, 103 (Suppl. 1), S111-21.
van Os, J., Kenis, G., & Rutten, B.P. (2010). The environment and schizophrenia. Nature, 468(7321), 203-212.
van Os, J., Rutten, B.P., & Poulton, R. (2008). Gene-environment interactions in schizophrenia: review of epidemiological findings and future directions. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34, 1066-1082.
Van Os, J., & Guloksuz, S. (2024). Population salutogenesis—the future of psychiatry?. JAMA psychiatry, 81(2), 115-116.
Williams, J., Bucci, S., Berry, K., & Varese, F. (2018). Psychological mediators of the association between childhood adversities and psychosis: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 65, 175-196. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2018.05.009.
Complementària
Barrantes-Vidal, N. (2014). Trauma and psychosis: Is it easier to study quarks than subjective meaning? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 129, 478-479.
Barrantes-Vidal, N., Chun, C., Myin-Germeys, I., & Kwapil, T.R. (2013). Psychometric schizotypy predicts the experience of psychotic-like, paranoid, and negative symptom experiences in daily life. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 1077-87.
Brendgen, M., Vitaro, F., Bukowski, W.M., Dionne, G., Tremblay, R.E. & Boivin, M. (2013). Can friends protect genetically vulnerable children from depression? Developmental Psychopathology, 25, 277-289.
Cristóbal-Narváez, P., Sheinbaum, T., Ballespí, S., Mitjavila, M., Myin-Germeys, I., Kwapil, Mitjavila, M., T.R., Barrantes-Vidal, N. (2016). Impact of adverse childhood experiences on psychotic-like symptoms and stress reactivity in daily life in nonclinical young adults. PLoS One, Apr 15;11(4):e0153557.
Ellis, B. J., Oldehinkel, A. J., & Nederhof, E. (2017). The adaptive calibration model of stress responsivity: An empirical test in the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey study. Development and psychopathology, 29(3), 1001-1021.
Ellis, B. J., & Del Giudice, M. (2014). Beyond allostatic load: Rethinking the role of stress in regulating human development. Development and psychopathology, 26(1), 1-20.
Ellis, B. J., & Del Giudice, M. (2019). Developmental adaptation to stress: An evolutionary perspective. Annual review of psychology, 70(1), 111-139.
European Network of National Networks studying Schizophrenia Gene-Environment Interactions in Schizophrenia(EU-GEI). (2014). Identifying gene-environment interactions in schizophrenia: contemporary challenges for integrated, large-scale investigations. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 40, 729-736.
Holmes, J. (2012). Psychodynamic psychiatry's green shoots. British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, 439-441.
Kendler, K.S. (2005). Toward a philosophical structure for psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 433-440.
Kwapil, T.R., & Barrantes-Vidal, N. (2015). Schizotypy: Looking Back and Moving Forward. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 41 (suppl. 2), S366-S373.
Kwapil, T.R. & Barrantes-Vidal, N. (2012). Schizotypal personality disorder: An integrative review (pp. 437-477). In: T.A. Widiger (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Personality Disorders. New York, NY: Oxford University Press (ISBN: 978-0-19-973501-3).
Pishva, E., Kenis, G., van den Hove, D., Lesch, K.P., Boks, M.P., van Os, J. & Rutten, B.P. (2014). The epigenome and postnatal environmental influences in psychotic disorders. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 49, 337-48.
Saxbe, D. E., Beckes, L., Stoycos, S. A., & Coan, J. A. (2020). Social allostasis and social allostatic load: A new model for research in social dynamics, stress, and health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(2), 469-482.
Shakiba, N., Ellis, B. J., Bush, N. R., & Boyce, W. T. (2020). Biological sensitivity to context: A test of the hypothesized U-shaped relation between early adversity and stress responsivity. Development and Psychopathology, 32(2), 641-660.
Wolf, C. & Linden, D.E. (2012). Biological pathways to adaptability--interactions between genome, epigenome, nervous system and environment for adaptive behavior. Genes, Brain and Behaviour, 11, 3-28.
Software
Not applicable.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 1 | English | first semester | afternoon |