The Effect of Family Support Program on Depressive Symptoms in First - Episode Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract

The purposes of quasi-experimental research were: 1) to compare depressive symptoms in firstepisode schizophrenic patients before and after received family support program, and 2) to compare depressive symptoms in first - episode schizophrenic patients who received family support program and those who received regular nursing care. The sample consisted of 40 first - episode schizophrenic patients, receiving services in out-patient department, Galya Rajanagarindra Institute. They were matched-pair by patients’ sex and family income, and, then equally randomly assigned into an experimental group and a control groups. The experimental group received the family support program, whereas the control group received regular nursing care. Research instruments included 1) a nurses’ of the family support program, depression assessment in schizophrenic patients, social support scale, test of caregivers’ knowledge about schizophrenic care. All instruments were content validated by a panel of 5 professional experts. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient reliability of the depression assessment was .93 Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. The research conclusion were:1) Depressive symptoms in first- episode schizophrenic patients after receiving family support program was significantly lower than that before the experiment, at the .05 level. 2) Depressive symptoms in first- episode schizophrenic patients after receiving family support program was significantly lower than those who received regular nursing care, at the .05 level.