The relation of social support-seeking to quality of life in schizophrenia.
Social support-seeking has been shown to improve the outcome of schizophrenia. However, no study to date has documented the impact of social support seeking on self-perceived quality of life in schizophrenia, particularly not on the relation between symptoms and quality of life. The present study explored this issue with a sample of 58 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia without comorbidity. Social support seeking, symptoms (positive, negative, and extrapyramidal), and multidimensional self-reported quality of life were assessed cross-sectionally. Negative symptoms were inversely related to the quality of life domain of activities of daily living. Other symptoms and social support-seeking were not related to quality of life, and social support-seeking did not interact with symptoms in their relation to quality of life. Social support-seeking may thus not be beneficial (nor disruptive) as a way of coping with symptoms in schizophrenia. More studies are needed in order to investigate the relation of social support-seeking to symptoms and to quality of life in serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, so that interventions with persons suffering from these disorders may be better guided.
Rudnick
A
A
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Kravetz
S
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012944:Social Support