Causes of schizophrenia - Beliefs of patients' relatives

Objective: In a former quantitative study on relatives' beliefs about the c auses of functional psychoses a preference for psychosocial explanations wa s found. There were also indications of an inclination towards a multicausa l concept. The aim of this study is to try to replicate these findings usin g semi-qualitative methods. In addition, we are interested in knowing to wh at extent the causal beliefs of relatives are similar to those of the patie nts, Method: Problem-centered interviews were conducted with 31 relatives o f schizophrenic patients. A computer-assisted qualitative content analysis was carried out with the transcripts of the interviews. Results: As in the previous study, relatives showed a strong propendency to endorse psychosoci al explanations. However, among only one third a multicausal concept could be observed. The causal beliefs of relatives and patients were quite simila r. Discussion: The findings are discussed with reference to the concept of subjective illness theory and the concepts social representations.