Psychosocial Functioning and Subjective Experience in Schizophrenia

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between psychosocial functioning and subjective experience in 193 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder according to Research Diagnostic Criteria. Psychosocial functioning was measured as work functioning, social functioning, living situation, symptomatology, and intrapsychic aspects of the deficit syndrome. Subjective experience consisted of measures of self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and subjective distress. Multivariate analyses resulted in two major findings. The first finding is a model of psychosocial functioning that consists of two factors: disorder-related variables (symptomatology and intrapsychic deficits) and functional status variables (work, social, and living situation). The second major finding is a two-tiered model of the relationship between psychosocial functioning and subjective experience. The model suggests a primary and pervasive relationship between the disorder-related variables and subjective experience and a secondary and less pronounced relationship between functional status variables and subjective experience. The implications of these findings for treatment and rehabilitation and for the study of subjective experience in schizophrenia are discussed.

The Prospective Relationships Among Intrinsic Motivation, Neurocognition, and Psychosocial Functioning in Schizophrenia

“…The CAF uses trained interviewers to gather behavioral event data from 17 domains of community functioning such as living situation, work and social functioning, family involvement, and medication use. 74 One functional outcome measure administered during the CAF interview is the Role Functioning Scale (RFS 75 , 76 ), which has been selected as a scale of choice for this population. 77 Interviewer ratings of work, independent living, and social functioning from the RFS were used for this study in accordance with procedures previously reported.…”

The Relationships Among Perceived Criticism, Family Contact, and Consumer Clinical and Psychosocial Functioning for African-American Consumers with Schizophrenia

“…The consumer measures were selected because they have been used with success in previous studies on psychosocial rehabilitation service outcomes (Brekke et al 1993;Brekke and Long 2000;, and because they also have been used to examine variation in cross-ethnic outcomes as well Phillips et al 2001). Based on the conceptualization of psychosocial functioning for schizophrenia by Brekke and Long (2000), we had a clinical domain of functioning represented by symptoms, and a functional domain reflecting work, independent living, and social relations.…”

“…There is a need to test EE findings on consumer outcomes other than relapse or rehospitalisation such as work, independent living or social functioning (Brekke et al 1993;Brekke and Long 2000;Dogan et al 2004;Inoue et al 1997;Moran 2007). Given the devastating effect that a major mental illness such as schizophrenia can have on an individual's psychosocial functioning there is a critical need for research to investigate what factors might contribute to or protect the individual's psychosocial functioning (Barrowclough and Tarrier 1990;Brekke et al 1993;Brekke and Long 2000;Dogan et al 2004;Inoue et al 1997;Moran 2007;Stricker et al 1997). Psychosocial functioning is also particularly salient for outpatient consumers, which are the vast majority of those diagnosed with schizophrenia (Dogan et al 2004;Phillips et al 2001).…”

Enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy for vocational rehabilitation in schizophrenia: Effects on hope and work

“…Even after controlling for negative symptoms, one prospective study found that when participants were faced with difficulties, their dysfunctional beliefs about giving up significantly predicted poor rehabilitation outcome [8]. Negative beliefs about the self have also been linked to other behaviors that may compromise vocational function, including avoidant coping [9,18], poor participation in treatment [19], and generally poor social function [7,20].…”