S u m m a r y

 

Kauranen A, Seikkula J & Alakare B (2000)

The change of social network of first episode psychotic patients in a network oriented treatment

Psykologia 35:403-415. Vammala ISSN 0355-1067

 

The social network (SN) of the patients (N=29) was analyzed at the outset and at one and two year follow-ups. The aims were (1) to clarify the relation of the size of the SN to the psychological status (PS), (2) to compare the change of the SN to the PS and to the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and (3) to clarify the relation of SN and SP to DUP during the follow-up.

At the outset, the mean size of SN was 18 people, of which 70% were relatives. SN was significantly smaller if the patient had schizophrenia, if the patient was living alone or in the family of origin, if he/she was unemployed or living passively without searching for a job, if the DUP was longer than six months and if he/she had already lost his or her grip of life to some degree.

During the follow-up, the entire SN stayed the same, some decrease took place in the number of relatives, but the only significant change was the increase of the number of work contacts. A longer DUP meant a smaller SN and a more rapid decrease in the SN. A long DUP was seen as a risk factor for SN. The network oriented treatment seemed to prevent the SN from becoming poorer and to help in achieving a job or a place of study.

 

 

Key words:

Social network, first episode psychosis, duration of untreated psychosis, network therapy

 

Aki Kauranen, M.A.(psych.) Elimäki Health Care Center, Birgitta Alakare, Lic.med., Keropudas Hospital, Tornio and Jaakko Seikkula, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyväskylä, Finland.