Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:1456-1461
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
The role of social relationships in the course of first-episode schizophrenia and affective psychosis
DH Erickson, M Beiser, WG Iacono, JA Fleming and TY Lin
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
The Markers and Predictors of Psychosis study at the University of British
Columbia addresses the role of psychosocial factors, such as social
relationships, in predicting the short-term course of first- episode
schizophrenia. Before their first episode of illness, schizophrenic
subjects had fewer and less satisfactory social relationships than subjects
with affective psychosis and a matched, normal comparison group. Nonfamily
social resources were positively associated with good prognosis for both
psychotic groups. While involvement with family members also predicted good
prognosis among subjects with affective psychosis, family involvement had a
negative association with outcome among schizophrenic subjects.
