BackgroundSchizophrenia is a chronic and relapsing mental disorder that is consistently associated with a severely diminished quality of life (QoL) for patients. Existing research has predominantly focused on how the stigma experienced by patients with schizophrenia relates to their own QoL. However, stigma among family caregivers has received considerably less attention, and its potential association with patients’ QoL, in particular, remains underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to systematically analyze the dyadic associations of stigma—as experienced by both patients with schizophrenia and their family caregivers—with QoL, utilizing an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM). Through this framework, this study seeks to explore the interdependence of stigma between patients and their family caregivers and its correlational links to their quality of life.MethodsTwo hundred and sixty-four pairs of schizophrenic patients and their family caregivers were included, and the subjects’ stigma was measured using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale and the Conjunctive Stigma Scale, respectively, and the quality of life was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Measurement Short Form. The actor-partner effect of stigma on quality of life was explored by constructing an actor-partner reciprocity model.ResultsThe actor effect of stigma on quality of life was significant for people with schizophrenia and their family caregivers (β=-0.472, p < 0.001, β=-0.779, p < 0.001), and the partner effect of stigma on quality of life was significant for people with schizophrenia and their family caregivers (β=-0.128, p = 0.033, β=-0.419, p < 0.001).ConclusionIn future research and interventions aimed at improving the quality of life for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers, it is important to consider not only the individual’s own stigma, but also how the other person’s stigma is associated with one’s quality of life.
Radically different