[Coping with the disease and disease course in schizophrenic psychoses]

The influence of the patients' attitude toward their psychosis in relation to the outcome variable "risk of relapse" was investigated (schizophrenics n = 38, ICD and AMDP-selection). The aspect of coping with the disease was operationalized by 11 self-rating items divided into 3 categories by using a (nonmetric) multidimensional scaling: active coping style, passive coping style and self-centeredness. Statistical analysis (Kruskal-Wallis- and Mann-Whitney U-tests) showed a significant difference inpatient versus outpatients in the categorie "active coping style". The significantly higher "active coping style"-score in the inpatient group could be explained by the relief of everyday problems by multiprofessional health teams. Finally, a stepwise logistic regression analysis showed a main impact of coping style on the outcome of psychosis, although the statistical model could be optimated only by including the interaction of the factors "vocational training" and "length of illness". Insofar, the results of the study represent a confirmation of the previous findings in coping research indicating that coping style and strategies are a relevant predictor of the outcome in chronic and impairing diseases.