Life satisfaction and happiness among young adults with schizophrenia.
People with schizophrenia often experience persistent symptoms and impairments in community functioning; however, despite this, many individuals with the illness report high levels of well-being. We explored the level of subjective well-being in a sample of relatively young outpatients with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls. Seventy-five outpatients with schizophrenia and 72 demographically matched healthy controls, aged 18-35 years, participated in the present study. Subjective well-being was defined as a combination of happiness and satisfaction with life, each of which were measured using validated instruments. Symptom severity, insight, and cognition were also evaluated. People with schizophrenia endorsed significantly lower levels of subjective well-being than healthy controls although, there was substantial overlap in scores, and many participants with schizophrenia endorsed a high level of well-being. Both depressive symptoms and motivational deficits demonstrated significant independent predictive value for determining level of well-being. At a group level, the mean level of happiness and life satisfaction was lower among people with schizophrenia than healthy comparison participants. However, despite this mean difference, there exists marked overlap in individual scores between those with and without schizophrenia, demonstrating that many young people with schizophrenia do, in fact, endorse high levels of subjective well-being.
Schizophrenia Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: gagan.fervaha@utoronto.ca.
Gagan
G
Fervaha
Schizophrenia Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Ofer
O
Agid
Schizophrenia Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Hiroyoshi
H
Takeuchi
Schizophrenia Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
George
G
Foussias
Schizophrenia Division and Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Gary
G
Remington
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
Amotivation; Outcome; Psychosis; Quality of life; Recovery; Schizophrenia