Abstract

Recovery has become an important concept in the mental health and rehabilitation recently. However, there have been only a few empirical and objective studies until now. This study intended not only to define the recovery conceptually and empirically, but also investigated what variables were related to the recovery of chronic schizophrenics among varicables such as general cognitive function, symptoms, social cognition, and social support.. The subjects were 124 chronic schizophrenics, who were enrolled and participated in community mental health center for more than 2 years. Independent variables, which was supposed to influence the recovery of the chronic schizophrenics, was Dependent variable was the recovery, composed of recovery scale and rehabilitation outcome. Stepwise regression analysis showed social support was the strongest predictor of both recovery and social function. Social cognition was important determinate of recovery. These data suggested that a promising way of recovery from chronical mental illness might be giving them appropriate social support and helping them to perceive social support. It was also proposed clinicians should consider social cognition as important target when developing rehabilitation plans.