Kenneth Kendler (Virginia Commonwealth University)
I will examine results from recent studies on the etiology of major psychiatric disorders relating them to strategies for dealing with causal complexity and levels of explanation. I will begin by examining simple statistical models on a "cartoon" level which I populate with risk factors from divergent scientific traditions (and "levels"). I will then turn to mechanistic models reviewing recent molecular genetic work that seems to reflect a "deeper" kind of integration or interaction. I will conclude by reviewing, with this conceptual background large scale etiologic path models and the current controversy over the interpretation of genome wide association studies.
