Causal beliefs of schizophrenic patients

Aim of the study is to investigate whether the preference of schizophrenic patients for psychosocial causal explanations found in a previous study car ried out in Hamburg can be observed elsewhere. Further aim of the study was to find out how stable patients' causal attributions are over time. Finall y, we were interested to know to what degree patients' beliefs reflect thos e held by the general public. Method: Using an inventory comprising 15 item s, we enquired about 105 schizophrenic patient's aetiological ideas at the time of discharge from hospital from inpatient or daycare treatment at 4 ps ychiatric hospitals in Germany. Follow-ups were carried out 3 months and 6 months later. Results: Psychosocial factors, especially psychosocial stress , were most frequently held responsible for the onset of the illness. The p ossibility that biological factors might play a role in the causation of sc hizophrenia was considered more rarely by the patients. There were practica lly no regional variations as concerns aetiological beliefs. The tendency t o endorse psychosocial stress factors was more pronounced among patients as compared with the general public. In total the causal beliefs proved to be quite stable over a time period of 6 months. Discussion: Patients' causal beliefs are compared with findings of psychiatric research, and possible wa ys to bridge the gap between the two are discussed.