Sex, Race, Socioeconomic Status, Social Mobility, and Process-Reactive Ratings of Schizophrenics

Earlier studies have suggested that the scales used to distinguish process from reactive schizophrenics may be sensitive to differences in sex, race, and socioeconomic status (SES). Social histories of psychiatrically diagnosed schizophrenics served as a basis for evaluating the above variables as well as that of social mobility and for dividing Ss into process (N=150) and reactive (N=150) groups using the Symptom Check List. X2 analysis revealed that Ss receiving process schizophrenia ratings were over-represented among males (p<.005), blacks (p<.005), and the lower SES (p<.05). When race and SES were examined simultaneously, lower SES white Ss were more often rated as process than upper SES white Ss (p<.025), while no difference in process-reactive ratings was found in the analogous comparison for blacks. No relationship was found between social mobility and process-reactive ratings. These findings may reflect correlates of the process-reactive dimension or they may be artifacts of possible scale and rater bias. Problems with the reliabilities of and intercorrelations among the various process-reactive scales are discussed, indicating the need for replication of the above findings using other scales and for the continued development and refinement of process-reactive measuring devices.