Relationship between self-disclosure to first acquaintances and subjective well-being in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders living in the community

Abstract

Objective Focusing on people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders living in the community, the present study aims to examine the characteristics of and gender differences in self-disclosure to first acquaintances, and to clarify the relationship between self-disclosure and subjective well-being. Methods Participants (32 men and 30 women with schizophrenia spectrum disorders) were examined using the subjective well-being inventory, an original self-disclosure scale for people with mental illness, as well as the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the Link devaluation-discrimination scale, and the affiliation scale. Results The self-disclosure content domains in descending order were as follows: "living conditions," "own strengths," "experiences of distress," and "mental illness and psychiatric disability." There were no significant gender differences in self-disclosure in the total and domain scores. Multiple regression analyses by gender revealed that: (1) in men, decreasing feelings of ill-being were significantly predicted by self-disclosure about "living conditions," selfesteem, and perceived stigma; (2) in women, increasing feelings of well-being were significantly predicted by self-disclosure about "own strengths," self-esteem, and sensitivity to rejection. Conclusions Self-disclosure to first acquaintances was related to subjective well-being in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders living in the community. This result supports the recovery model and the strengths model. It suggests the importance of interventions targeting selfdisclosure to first acquaintances about experiences as human beings, such as "living conditions" and "own strengths," as it relates to subjective well-being in community-based mental health rehabilitation.