Cultural Beliefs About the Etiology of Schizophrenia and Expressed Emotion in Mexican Families

Introduction

Schizophrenia is a severe and persistent mental disorder that affects around 21 million people worldwide. The etiology of schizophrenia is currently understood as heterogeneous and multifactorial. Genetic and environmental factors are the most common explanations for the onset of schizophrenia, but along with these, hybridized cultural ideas coexist between medical, superstitious, and religious paradigms. The objective was to identify the relationship between cultural beliefs about schizophrenia, etiology and expressed emotion.

Methods

The present study used a mixed-method design, with an analytical approach for ethnographic research. The sample consisted of 40 people, relatives of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, selected using simple random probabilistic sampling.

Results

A valid cultural consensus was found with statistical significance (p≤.05). Emotional trauma in childhood was identified as the leading cause of schizophrenia, followed by hereditary factors, emotional problems, head trauma, mistreatment, and divine will. The better-informed relatives expressed less emotion than those with less cultural competence (Mann-Whitney's U = 1.000; p < .001).

Conclusions

Mexican families in this study had a high degree of scientific knowledge about the etiology of schizophrenia, but religious ideas and compassionate explanations were part of this hybridized model.