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Social functioning mediates the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and recovery among veteran and community

Mary Katherine Howell¹, Matthew Marggraf², Maddison L Taylor¹

¹Veterans Integrated Services Network 5 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center.

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

|May 8, 2023

Abstract

Objective:

Previous research has established the impact of psychiatric symptoms on social functioning, while there is a paucity of research examining how social functioning relates to personal recovery, an individual's self-assessment of their mental health recovery. This study examined the mediating effect of social engagement, interpersonal communication, and satisfaction with support in the relationship between distinct psychiatric symptom clusters and perceived mental health recovery.

Methods:

In a cross-sectional study, both patient self-report and provider assessment data were collected for 250 patients with serious mental illness (SMI) across four mental health service sites. Parallel mediation analytic models were used.

Results:

Interpersonal communication partially mediated the relationship between positive and negative symptom clusters and personal recovery. Satisfaction with social supports partially mediated the relationship between excited symptoms and personal recovery. Both interpersonal communication and satisfaction with social supports partially mediated the relationship between general psychological distress and depressive symptoms and personal recovery. Collectively, social functioning mediators explained nearly half of the relationship between general psychological distress and excited symptoms and personal recovery and nearly all of the relationship between positive symptoms and personal recovery.

Conclusions And Implications For Practice:

Clinical providers working with persons with SMI should regularly assess social functioning in addition to assessing psychiatric symptoms and personal recovery factors and should incorporate social skills education into SMI group and individual treatments. Social functioning as a target of treatment may be especially beneficial for patients who are dissatisfied with other interventions or feel they have experienced the maximum benefit from treatment and are seeking additional methods to support personal recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

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