Measurements of social support in schizophrenia.

A selective review of the literature reveals some methods and instruments that show promise for the investigation of social support as a factor in the course and treatment of schizophrenia. Approaches are divided into social-psychological questionnaires, anthropological network studies, ethnographies, and clinical epidemiological investigations. Social support measures designed for the general population probably have little relevance in schizophrenia.

Parenthood and social networks. A preliminary view.

Data from several samples in the United States and England are drawn upon to examine how and to what extent the social networks of parents differ from those of men and women without children. The social contact patterns found to be associated with parenthood involve (1) a shift in the composition of the networks, and especially an increased emphasis on kin connections; (2) a shift in the frequency with which people are seen; and (3) an absolute reduction in network size for non-working mothers in the lowest social class. The paper briefly considers the health-related implications of these network differences, with special reference to several recent studies that have found exceptionally high rates of depression among women with young children.

Social networks and schizophrenia.

This article suggests that social network concepts and methods can provide a unifying framework for social research on schizophrenia. A selective review of the literature indicates that a social network perspective is not only consistent with a range of other research approaches and findings, but may help resolve some basic and persistent methodological and conceptual problems. A theoretical model is briefly described which attributes a critical role in the onset and recurrence of schizophrenia to social network processes.