Social support-seeking has been shown to improve the outcome of schizophren
ia. However, no study to date has documented the impact of social support s
eeking on self perceived quality of life in schizophrenia, particularly not
on the relation between symptoms and quality of life. The present study ex
plored this issue with a sample of 58 outpatients diagnosed with schizophre
nia without comorbidity. Social support seeking, symptoms (positive, negati
ve, and extrapyramidal), and multidimensional self-reported quality of life
were assessed cross-sectionally. Negative symptoms were inversely related
to the quality of life domain of activities of daily living. Other symptoms
and social support-seeking were not related to quality of life, and social
support-seeking did not interact with symptoms in their relation to qualit
y of life. Social support-seeking may thus not be beneficial (nor disruptiv
e) as a way of coping with symptoms in schizophrenia. More studies are need
ed in order to investigate the relation of social support seeking to sympto
ms and to quality of life in serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia
, so that interventions with persons suffering from these disorders may be
better guided.