title: Beliefs about causes of schizophrenia among family members: a community-based survey in Bali.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This community-based study investigated causal beliefs regarding schizophrenia among families of individuals in Bali who screened positive for schizophrenia and examined how their beliefs were related to the individual's psychiatric treatment status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Causal beliefs of 39 key relatives were examined: 19 of the individuals with schizophrenia had received psychiatric medical treatment and 20 had never received such treatment. A questionnaire developed by the authors that listed 15 possible causes of schizophrenia was used to examine the respondents' beliefs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Key relatives attributed supernatural causes to schizophrenia more often than natural causes. Compared with relatives who listed a natural cause as most important (14 relatives, or 36 percent), relatives who considered a supernatural cause as being the most important (25 relatives, or 64 percent) had a significantly higher mean age and less education and were more likely to have family members with schizophrenia who had never received psychiatric medical treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Families' attribution of supernatural causes was strongly related to no receipt of psychiatric medical treatment by the individual with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Komagino Hospital, 273 Uratakao, Hachioji, Tokyo, 193-8505 Japan. kurihara@sj8.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: Motoichiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reverger
authors.forename: I Gusti Rai
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Tirta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D008273:Magic / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires