This is an exploratory study of the relationship between social climate-social environment of boarding homes, person- environment fit, and relapse of chronic schizophrenics. Archival data on patient characteristics will be collected on over 1,000 subjects. Subjects in this investigation include patients between 25 and 60 with a primary diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia who were discharges from a large state hospital between January 1985 and January 1987. The primary outcome measure for determining environmental influence on relapse will be the Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) developed by Moos and Associates, 1974. A secondary measure, the Facilities Characteristics Questionnaire (FCQ) will be administered to assess various demographic characteristics of clients and staff in residential facilities as well as various program characteristics previously shown to be important to program effectiveness. The central hypothesis to be tested is: The covariance among specific patient variables (age, age of onset, compliance with psychotropic regimen, total number of previous admissions, expressed emotion from family members, and social skills) and community-based psychiatric treatment facility social climate variables; involvement, support, spontaneity, autonomy, practical orientation, anger and aggression, order and organization, program clarity, and staff control (from COPES) will account for a significant portion of the variance in relapse rates in chronic schizophrenics discharged from Western State Hospital during the study period. These relationships will be tested in a structural equation model using the LISREL computer program.
