Predictors of Personal Recovery of People with Severe Mental Illness in a Chinese Society: a Cross-Sectional Study with a Random Sample

This research study aims to identify the psychosocial factors predicting the personal recovery of people with severe mental illness in a Chinese society. A cross-sectional research design was adopted that involved a random sample of 266 community-dwelling people with severe mental illness in Hong Kong. These individuals were assessed in terms of their personal recovery, self-esteem, and self-stigma by using standardized assessment scales. While personal recovery is related to and/or predicted by various psychosocial factors, the results of hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses showed that self-stigma subscales were significant predictors of personal recovery, while self-worth was the strongest predictor of personal recovery. Thus, it is important to enhance the sense of self-worth and reduce self-stigma of people with severe mental illness to facilitate their personal recovery.