Relationship between stressful life events, coping styles, and schizophrenia relapse

This study aimed to explore the relationship between stressful life events, coping styles, and schizophrenia relapse. The sample for this study included 248 patients with schizophrenia from a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Hunan Province, China. Stressful life events, occurrence of schizophrenia relapse, and coping style were assessed by the Scale for the Social Readjustment Rating, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, respectively. Spearman correlation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were adopted to explore the relationships among coping styles, schizophrenia relapse, and stressful life events. Stressful life events and negative coping exhibited significant positive association with schizophrenia relapse, while positive coping exhibited a significant negative association with schizophrenia relapse. Stressful life events and positive coping exerted significant effects on schizophrenia relapse, while negative coping did not. We also found that both positive coping and negative coping have moderating effects on the relationship between stressful life events and schizophrenia relapse, but the relationship is weak. The study highlighted the importance of interventions designed to reduce stressful life events, promote positive coping, and address negative coping in patients with schizophrenia.

Automated summary

The study revealed a close relationship between coping styles of patients with schizophrenia and the risk of relapse, with positive coping reducing the likelihood of relapse and negative coping potentially increasing it. Furthermore, positive and negative coping were shown to have moderating effects on the impact of stressful life events on schizophrenia relapse, although the effect was relatively weak.