Social functioning in schizophrenia: what is the influence of gender?

Background and Objectives: To examine the influence of gender on social functioning in patients with schizophrenia Methods: A sample of 318 schizophrenic (216 men and 102 women) (DSM-IV criteria) outpatients from four Spanish centres were administered the following instruments: Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), Disability Assessment Scale (DAS-sv), and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale. A regression model was created with DAS and GAF as dependent variables, and gender, and other predictor variables as independent variables. Separate regression models were then generated for females and males. Results: Women had a better social functioning than men, and after adjusting for others predictor variables gender was a significant predictor specially for occupational functioning. In gender specific analyses, we found that the predictive variables for social functioning have more similarities than differences between men and women. Conclusions: In our sample, women showed a better social functioning than men specially in occupational functioning. Received 23 March 2006 Revised 8 January 2007 Accepted 16 January 2007