G. Bean et al., NEGATIVE LABELING OF INDIVIDUALS WITH FIRST EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA - THE EFFECT OF PREMORBID FUNCTIONING, Schizophrenia research, 22(2), 1996, pp. 111-118
This study examines the hypothesis that negative labelling of individu
als with a first episode of schizophrenia is related to the length and
intensity of behavioural disturbance prior to first hospitalization.
Forty-five individuals with first episode schizophrenia were assessed
at admission to hospital for the presence and severity of symptoms, du
ration of untreated illness and premorbid social and occupational func
tioning. Negative labelling was assessed from ratings obtained from in
dividuals designated as a significant other by the individuals with sc
hizophrenia. Identical measures of labelling were obtained from indivi
duals designated as a significant other by a comparison group (n=70) w
ho had no history of psychiatric disorder. The results indicated that
the individuals with schizophrenia received more negative labels than
the asymptomatic individuals. The negative attributions were associate
d with older age at onset of psychosis, a long period of deterioration
before the onset of psychosis, and poor occupational functioning in t
he 9 months prior to hospitalization. These findings are consistent wi
th results from studies that have examined expressed emotion (EE) in f
irst episode schizophrenia and suggest that the reported association o
f high EE with relapse in first episode schizophrenia may be confounde
d with premorbid functioning that is typically associated with poor ou
tcome.