Negative and supportive social interactions and quality of life among persons diagnosed with severe mental illness

This study examined the relative importance of negative and supportive soci al interactions in predicting different aspects of quality of life (QOL) in a sample of persons diagnosed with severe mental illness (n = 104). Contro lling for other variables that might explain such a relationship, we found that negative social interactions were significantly related to lower QOL i n three subjective domains, while supportive social interactions were relat ed to higher QOL in four objective domains and one subjective domain. We fo und negative social interactions that are stigmatizing to be particularly i mportant in predicting QOL; additional analyses suggested that perceived st igma partially mediated the relationship between negative social interactio ns and QOL. We discuss the implications of the present findings for the stu dy of the link between social relationships and QOL among persons with ment al illness.