Psychosocial family intervention in schizophrenia: a review of empirical studies

This paper reviews the recent empirical studies on psychosocial family intervention in schizophrenia. Six family educational intervention studies and five more intensive family work studies with 2-year follow-up have been included. A series of questions is asked relating to the effects of such interventions, the efficacy of the different educational models, the active ingredients of these multi-component treatment packages, and the contribution of this new generation of studies to our understanding of the mechanisms through which these interventions work. Suggestions for further research are made. Finally, from the published manuals, the common components of these diverse, multi-component treatment packages of different family-intervention studies are identified.