Schizophrenia and sense of coherence

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the dependence between the sense of coherence (SOC) and symptomatic improvement as it is the determinant of recovery process of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Methods: The group of 134 patients was surveyed. 118 of them suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and 16 suffered from schizoaffective disorders, all were hospitalized in psychiatric clinics. Mean age was 36.22 years (SD = 8.51). Research was based on the Orientation to Life Questionnaire by A. Antonovsky. The level of psychopathological symptoms intensity was investigated twice, at the start and at the end of hospitalization with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The rate of recovery was the margin between psychopathological symptoms intensification at the beginning and at the end of hospitalization.

Results: The analysis show that higher sense of comprehensibility (SOCCOM) favors lesser intensity of negative symptoms and overall psychiatric symptomatology in PANSS while starting the hospitalization. Also patients with higher level of sense of coherence (SOC) show less negative symptoms escalation during hospital admission. Results show that higher level of sense of coherence (SOC) and higher level of sense of comprehensibility (SOCCOM) coexist with lesser difference in the intensification of psychopathological symptoms.

Conclusions: This article tries to show the role of sense of coherence in the recovery process among people with schizophrenic disorders. Coexistence of higher sense of coherence with greater negative symptoms and psychopathological symptoms can be perceived as an insight to the illness, which can be recognized as an expression of recovery.

Keywords: recovery; schizophrenia; sense of coherence.