Final answer:
The 1930 study by Faris and Dunham linked birth in Chicago to schizophrenia. It was pivotal in showing the role of environment in mental health, bolstered by later studies such as Tienari et al. 2004, which showed gene-environment interaction in schizophrenia.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 1930 classic study conducted by Robert E. Lee Faris and H. Warren Dunham linked birth in the inner city of Chicago to schizophrenia. This pioneering research highlighted the impact of urban environment on mental health and was a significant contribution to our understanding of the environmental factors in the etiology of schizophrenia. In particular, it suggested that certain stressful urban living conditions could interact with an individual's biological predisposition to increase the likelihood of developing schizophrenia.
Further studies, such as the one conducted by Tienari and colleagues in 2004, have expanded on this understanding, showing that adoptees whose biological mothers had schizophrenia were much more likely to develop the condition themselves if they were raised in a disturbed family environment, compared to adoptees from healthier family environments. The cumulative evidence supports the theory that schizophrenia results from a complex interplay between genetic vulnerability and environmental factors.