Social support and three-year symptom and admission outcomes for first episode psychosis

This paper presents the first published findings examining the relationship of social support to three-year symptom outcome and hospitalizations for a group of first episode patients with psychotic disorders. Social support was measured using items from the provider version of the Wisconsin Quality of Life Scale as assessed at the time of initiation of treatment for 113 patients. Outcome was assessed by level of positive and negative symptoms at three-year follow-up and number of psychiatric admissions during those three years. Higher levels of social support were found to correlate with lower levels of positive symptoms and few hospitalizations at follow-up. The relationship of social support to follow-up symptoms and hospitalization was independent of other potential predictors such as gender, age, premorbid adjustment and duration of untreated illness.