Objective: The importance of causal attribution for Turkish and German patients with a psychotic disorder for the diagnostic process was examined.
Methods: Within a controlled clinical study Turkish and German patients were interviewed regarding their concepts of cause of illness.
Results: There was no difference between the two groups - in both around half the patients gave a response categorized under "psychosocial stress", while in both groups only about one fourth gave culture specific responses, with no difference even when looking at potentially misdiagnosed cases.
Conclusions: Culture specific causal attributions for psychotic disorders do not seem to be as important as the literature implies. Nonetheless in securities in diagnostics and treatment make it necessary to acquire a better understanding of these views.