Social network among people with persistent mental illness: associations with sociodemographic, clinical and health-related factors.
Författare
Summary, in English
Background: Social interaction is crucial for whether a person will successfully accomplish important life tasks. Aim and method: This study investigated the importance of sociodemographic, clinical and self-perceived health-related factors for social interaction among 103 individuals with persistent mental illness, mainly psychoses, visiting an outpatient unit. Results: Bivariate analyses pointed to several relationships, especially between the health-related variables and both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the social network. In multivariate analyses, higher levels of quality of life, self-esteem, being a cohabitant, and living in a house were related to higher ratings on different aspects of the social network. Older age was associated with fewer close relationships but more adequate social integration. Conclusions: The social network appeared to be a function of both self -perceptions and sociodemographic influences. The influence is probably dynamic and, for example, just as a better quality of life may lead to more social interaction, a more developed social network probably promotes better quality of life. Therefore, interventions in mental health care that target social interaction constitute a powerful resource and should be part of the support for people with severe and persistent mental illness.
Publiceringsår
2007
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
293-305
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Volym
53
Issue
4
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
SAGE Publications
Ämne
- Occupational Therapy
- Nursing
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Sustainable occupations and health in a life course perspective
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1741-2854