Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of the Social Network in Schizophrenic Patients Living in the Community. Relationship To Sociodemographic Characteristics and Clinical Factors and Subjective Quality of Life

Abstract

Quantitative and qualitative aspects of the social network were investigated in a sample of 120 schizophrenic out-patients. Sociodemographic and clinical factors as well as subjective quality of life were investigated as to their relationship to the social network. The Interview Schedule for Social Integration (ISSI) was used to assess social network and Lancashire Quality of Life Profile was used to assess subjective quality of life. Psychopathology was measured by BPRS and psychosocial functioning by GAF. The patients reported a significantly worse social network compared to a normal sample both regarding quantitative and qualitative aspects of the network. Almost half of the patients wanted access to more social contacts. Relatives and friends turned out to be the patient's main source of supportive contacts. More severe negative and positive symptoms were related to a worse social network. Support was found for an association between characteristics of the social network, such as satisfaction with social contacts, and quality of life. The results give reason to suggest that the care system should consider the informal caregivers' situation and focus on interventions, which enhance the patient's satisfaction with social contacts.

Factors influencing subjective perceptions of everyday occupations: Comparing day centre attendees with non-attendees

“…An empowering and recovery-oriented approach from staff members is crucial, as selfmastery has been shown to be related to both of these phenomena (24). Moreover, social skills training has been recommended to strengthen people's self-mastery, since it increased with higher levels of social interaction (43) The findings also indicate that younger people should be highlighted as a risk group for low levels of valued occupations. Merryman and Riegel (41) showed that young persons who recently had fallen mentally ill were without sufficient support and were in need of mobilizing coping skills and might also need support for all occupations in everyday life.…”

The effect of service satisfaction and spiritual well-being on the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia

“…A possible reason for such feeble association might be the lack of a qualitative assessment. In fact, previous studies on QOL of outpatients with psychosis reported that satisfaction with daily activities was associated with improvement in QOL (Bengtsson-Tops and Hansson, 2001;Eklund and Backstrom, 2005;Picardi et al, 2006).…”

Are factors associated with subjective quality of life in people with severe mental illness consistent over time? — A 6-year follow-up study

“…A larger social network has been moderately associated to a better quality of life (9). Satisfaction with the social network or social relations has also been demonstrated to be associated with a better subjective quality of life (10). Enduring self-related traits such as mastery, autonomy, locus of control, sense of coherence in life, self efficacy and selfesteem have been suggested to be important mediating factors and predictors of the appraisal of subjective quality of life.…”