Dyadic adjustment in parents of schizophrenics.

Objective: To study the dyadic adjustment in couples with a schizophrenic offspring.

Method: 140 married couples, 67 with children with schizophrenia, and two control groups: 41 couples without pathology and 32 couples with pathology, were assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale.

Results: The couples with a schizophrenic offspring evidenced significantly worse dyadic adjustment than did the normal controls, especially low consensus and cohesion in husbands, and low cohesion and satisfaction in wives.