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Patients' Perceptions of Family Emotional Climate and Outcome in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Malca B. Lebell*
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Brentwood Division, and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Stephen R. Marder
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Service, West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Brentwood Division, and University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Jim Mintz
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Lois I. Mintz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Martha Tompson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
William Wirshing
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Brentwood Division, and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Kathleen Johnston-Cronk
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Joanne McKenzie
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Brentwood Division, and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
*
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Brentwood Division, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Building 210, Room 15, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA

Abstract

Thirty-nine chronic schizophrenic male out-patients and their relatives were interviewed separately to assess their perceptions of their current relationships. Two simple 5-point rating scales predicted the risk of psychotic exacerbation during a one-year follow-up: patients' perceptions of the relatives' attitudes towards them, and patients' own attitudes towards the relatives. Survival analysis of data in a 2 × 2 factorial - combining degree of contact with the key relatives and the patients' perceptions of their relatives - found that patients in frequent contact with a positively perceived relative had significantly better survival rates without psychotic exacerbation. Patients' perceptions of their relatives may help identify patients at risk of exacerbation of their illness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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