A NEW QUESTIONNAIRE ASSESSING COPING STRATEGIES IN RELATIVES OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA - DEVELOPMENT AND FACTOR-ANALYSIS

This paper describes the development and validation of a questionnaire assessing the coping strategies adopted by relatives of patients with schizophrenia. The final version of the questionnaire includes 27 ite ms, grouped into seven subscales (information, positive communication, social interests, coercion, avoidance, resignation and patient's soci al involvement), the intra-rater reliability of which ranges from 0.46 to 0.76. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which tests the content validi ty of the subscales, ranges from 0.65 to 0.83. Factor analysis identif ies three factors (problem-oriented coping strategies, emotionally foc used strategies, and maintenance of social interests in association wi th patient's avoidance), accounting for 70.9% of the total variance. T his questionnaire may be particularly useful for targeting and monitor ing psychoeducational interventions in the families of patients with s chizophrenia.