FACTORS INFLUENCING THE VALIDITY OF RELATIVES REPORTS ABOUT SYMPTOMS OF FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA

Valid information on the early course of schizophrenia is necessary fo r clinical and research purposes, for example, to determine the onset of the disorder. Since reports given by psychotic patients are questio nable, relatives are often asked about their observations. In order to test the quality of these reports, the recollections of emerging symp tomatology were assessed systematically from 30 recent onset, postpsyc hotic schizophrenic patients and from 69 informants (mostly their clos e relatives) by means of the Interview for the Retrospective Assessmen t of the Onset of Schizophrenia (IRAOS). Patient-informant agreement r ates like kappa were compared between the relatives of every single ca se. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that personality and att ributional factors, particularly causal attributions and the image the informant has about him/herself and about the patient, determine the quality of the informants' reports. Highest kappas over all symptoms, for instance, were reached by relatives who described the patient as ' 'dominant'' and themselves as ''reserved'', and who attributed the dis ease to current psychosocial stress. Long and close contact to the pat ient tends to impair the quality of reports.