Recovery style, symptoms and psychosocial functioning in psychotic patients: A preliminary study

Background. Both integration and sealing over have been identified as global, clinically distinct recovery styles from the psychotic illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between recovery style, symptoms and global functioning in psychotic patients. Methods. 106 psychiatric patients in different phases of recovery were studied (no patient at the first episode in our sample). The Integration/Sealing Over Scale, the Recovery Style Questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Life Skills Profile were completed for all patients; moreover, socio-demographic and clinical data were collected. Results. A relationship was found between the integrative recovery style and age >45 years (p<0.05), integration and affective disorders (p<0.05), delusions and sealing over (p<0.05). Conclusions. Although the limited study sample, our findings suggest some predictors of integration which should be taken into consideration to "drive" patients toward an integrative recovery style after an acute psychotic episode.