Abstract—A deeper understanding of the process of psychopathology development is invaluable not only for taking the necessary preventive measures against the development of psychiatric disorders, but also to predict the course of a psychiatric illnessin a given individual. Even though genetic and environmental influences are implicated in this process, and there are number of psychological theories that explain psychopathology, the exact mechanism of this process is unknown. This paper attempts to explain this mechanism using a mathematical model based on Cognitive Schema Theory and genetic-environmental interactions.

Index Terms—Mathematical modelling of psychopathology development, mathematical modelling of cognitive schema theory, mathematical models in psychology and psychiatry, modelling genetic-environmental interactions.

Irosh Fernando is with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Newcastle and the Calvary Mater Hospital, Hunter New England Local Area Health District, NSW, Australia (e-mail: Irosh.fernando@ uon.edu.au, Irosh.fernando@hnehealth. nsw.gov.au).

Cite:Irosh Fernando, "Modelling Psychopathology Development in Psychiatric Illnesses Using Cognitive Schema Theory and Genetic-Environmental Interactions," International Journal of Applied Physics and Mathematics vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 296-301, 2013.