Abstract
In a former quantitative study on relatives' beliefs about the causes of functional psychoses a preference for psychosocial explanations was found. There were also indications of an inclination towards a multicausal concept. The aim of this study is to try to replicate these findings using semi-qualitative methods. In addition, we are interested in knowing to what extent the causal beliefs of relatives are similar to those of the patients. Problem-centered interviews were conducted with 31 relatives of schizophrenic patients. A computer-assisted qualitative content analysis was carried out with the transcripts of the interviews. As in the previous study, relatives showed a strong propendency to endorse psychosocial explanations. However, among only one third a multicausal concept could be observed. The causal beliefs of relatives and patients were quite similar. The findings are discussed with reference to the concept of subjective illness theory and the concept of social representations.
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