Sources of social support and clinical and functional evolution of people with schizophrenia

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Purpose: The impact of social support on comprehensive measures of results (clinical and functional) of the course of schizophrenia was studied, understood and evaluated as a multidimensional construct differentiating sources of support (family vs. nonfamily). Methods: 152 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were assessed with the Mannheim Interview on Social Support (MISS) and the Social Functioning Scale (SFS). The hypotheses were explored in a prospective longitudinal design, using a causal correlational analysis for their evaluation by applying structural equation models. Results: The only explanatory factor of social functioning was nonfamily social support, while the only explanatory factor of clinical result measurements was family social support, observing a clearly differentiated impact of the different sources of support on the schizophrenia result measurements. It was also found that while family social support explained 6.8% of the variance in the clinical result measurements, nonfamily social support explained 13.7% of the variance in social functioning. Conclusion: The results confirmed the differential importance of social support variables (family vs. nonfamily) in the clinical and functional result measurements of people with schizophrenia.

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