Psychopathological Symptoms and Satisfaction with Mental Health in Patients with Schizophrenia

The patient's view of their mental health is a central aspect in research and practice. Yet, little is known about which psychopathological symptoms are linked with patients' satisfaction with their mental health. We aimed to identify these symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

An individual patient data meta-analysis was conducted with data from 2,488 patients from 8 independent studies. Satisfaction with mental health was rated on a 7-point scale, and symptoms were observer-rated using identical items from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale. Mixed multilevel univariate followed by multivariate regression models were used to identify symptoms associated with satisfaction with mental health.

In univariate regressions, all subscales - not age and gender - were associated with mental health satisfaction. In the multivariate regression, only affective and negative symptoms were significantly associated with a lower satisfaction with mental health, explaining 22.5% of the variance.

Observer-rated psychopathological symptoms are linked to patients' mental health satisfaction. In addition to affective symptoms - which are commonly negatively linked with satisfaction ratings - a higher level of negative symptoms makes patients less satisfied with their mental health, whilst positive and other symptoms do not influence mental health satisfaction.