Causal attribution in psychosis: A study on patients and relatives

Description

Far too little is known about causal attribution of psychotic disorders according to patients and relatives, something that could be related to their attitudes and emotional reactions towards the disorder itself. In order to examine this matter, a sample of 162 patients diagnosed with psychosis and their families, who were included in an assessment of social functioning, was collected. They were asked to answer this open question: What do you think your/his disorder is due to? The following step was the classification of the answers. The results indicate that both patients and relatives considered Vital Circumstances as the primary cause of the disorder. It should also be noted that relatives tend to consider internal factors as a cause as opposed to patients. In subsequent studies, it would be interesting to explore the relationship between the causal attribution given by patients and relatives, and other relevant variables such as social functioning, behavior problems and family overload.

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