FAMILY EXPECTATION, SOCIAL-ADJUSTMENT AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN A SAMPLE OF SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS

A case series to study factors related to family expectation regarding schizophrenic patients was conducted in an out-patient setting in the city of S. Paulo, Brazil. Patients diagnosed as presenting schizophre nia by the ICD 9th Edition and having had the disease for more than fo ur years were included in the study. Family Expectation was measured b y the difference between the Katz Adjustment Scale (R2 and R3) scores based on the relative's expectation and the socially expected activiti es of the patient (Discrepancy Score), and social adjustment was given by the DSM-III-R Global Assessment Scale (GAS). Outcome assessments w ere made independently, and 44 patients comprised the sample (25 males and 19 females). The Discrepancy mean score was twice as high for mal es as for females (p < 0.02), and there was an inverse relationship be tween the discrepancy score and social adjustment (r = -0.46, p < 0.00 1). Moreover, sex and social adjustment exerted independent effects on the discrepancy score when age, age at onset and number of psychiatri c admissions were controlled by means of a multiple regression techniq ue. There was an interaction between sex and social adjustment, the in verse relationship between social adjustment and discrepancy score bei ng more pronounced for males. These findings are discussed in the ligh t of the potential association between the family environment, gender and social adjustment of schizophrenic patients, and the need for furt her research, i.e. ethnographic accounts of interactions between patie nt and relatives sharing households particularly in less developed cou ntries.