Family involvement moderates the relationship between perceived recovery orientation of services and personal narratives among Chinese with schizophrenia in Hong Kong: a 1-year longitudinal investigation

Purpose Family has been found to have an influential role on clinical and recovery outcomes of people with schizophrenia. While recovery-oriented services can facilitate service users to develop a rich and positive identity, it is unclear how different levels of family involvement may interact with recovery-oriented services in affecting personal recovery. The present study aimed to examine how family involvement moderates the relationship between perceived recovery-orientation of services and personal narratives of Chinese people in Hong Kong who had recent onset of schizophrenia spectrum disorder longitudinally. Method Multi-method approach (semi-structured interview, researcher ratings, self-report measures) was adopted. 167 participants completed assessments at baseline; 93 and 68 of them were retained at 6-month and 12-month follow-up assessment, respectively. Results Baseline perceived recovery orientation of services significantly predicted richer personal narratives at 6-month follow-up when baseline family involvement was optimal ( B = 0.26, p = 0.03, 95% CI [0.02–0.48]). As to 12-month assessment, baseline perceived recovery orientation of services significantly predicted poorer personal narratives when family was perceived as under-involved at baseline ( B = − 0.45, p = 0.02, 95% CI [− 0.88 to − 0.07]). Conclusion Without proper family involvement, recovery-oriented services could be ineffectual in facilitating the development of rich personal narratives for Chinese people in Hong Kong.