The social network of the schizophrenic: Patient and residential determinants

Abstract

Based on a sample of 103 schizophrenics, this paper utilizes path analysis to examine the interrelationships among a number of patient and residence characteristics on different network dimensions. Residents' social competence was consistently found to maintain the strongest association with many of the outside‐facility network dimensions. Despite the mediation of a third of its effect through social competence, decreased periods of hospitalization remained a significant influence in these equations. Residential facilities emphasizing autonomy contributed minimally to some of the external network domains. Conversely, less demanding residential programs and lengthy periods of hospitalization were significantly associated with the within‐facility network dimension. Neither premorbid social adjustment nor length of tenure within a residence had a direct effect on any network dimension in the complete model. Treatment and policy implications are discussed based on the differential determinants of network dimensions found in this study.

Housing, Social Support and People With Schizophrenia: A Grounded Theory Study

“…For example, researchers have found a relationship between hospitalization and the breakdown of social networks (Holmes-Eber & Riger, 1990;Lipton, Cohen, Fischer & Katz, 1981). Researchers in institutional settings demonstrate that supportive, low-expectation living environments are associated with greater development of social ties within the facility but not outside the facility (Denoff & Pilkonis, 1987;Segal & Holschuh, 1991). Homelessness is associated with having fewer social contacts (Lehman & Postrado, 1995).…”

Social Support and Recovery in People with Serious Mental Illnesses

“…Generally, research shows that people with serious mental illnesses have a smaller (Furukawa, et al, 1999;Lipton, Cohen, Fischer, & Katz, 1981;Pattison, Llamas, & Hurd, 1979;Randolph & Escobar, 1985;Sokolovsky, Cohen, Berger, & Geiger, 1978;Tolsdorf, 1976) and/or less satisfactory (Bengtsson-Tops & Hansson, 2001;Furukawa, et al, 1999;Tolsdorf, 1976) support network. The second category of research has examined the relationship between objective and subjective measures of social support and outcomes related to mental illness (Denoff & Pilkonis, 1987;Erickson, Beiser, & Iacono, 1998;Meeks & Hammond, 2001;Salokangas, 1997;Wojciechowska, Cechnicki, & Walczewski, 2002). The most prominent of these outcomes has been quality of life with research suggesting people with mental illness who report larger or more satisfactory support networks also report better quality of life (Bengtsson-Tops & Hansson, 2001;Hansson et al, 2002;Rudnick & Kravetz, 2001).…”

Social Support Resource Outcomes for the Clients of Two Assertive Community Treatment Teams

“…Five control variables were drawn from the literature to statistically equalize the two intact groups of treatment team clients on relevant dimensions. Levels of these covariates are all associated with support resource acquisition and include gender (House, Umberson, and Landis, 1988), race (Coates, 1990), diagnosis (Bee1s, 1981, duration of program participation (Bond, Miller, Krumweid, and Ward, 1988), and degree of functional impairment (Denoff and Pilkovis, 1987).…”