In this control study, first admission schizophrenic patients report more recent life events overall and more events categorized as undesirable, familial, relocation and legal than controls. Interpretation of the observations should be ventured cautiously given the small difference between schizophrenics and controls, the small number of subjects, the retrospective strategy, and the failure of events independent of one''s control or events characterized as threatening to confirm the positive relationship of recent life events to the occurrence of illness. Recent research has attempted to document a relationship between the amount and/or significance of recent life events and the occurrence of psychological symptomatology and major psychiatric syndromes. The overall differences between schizophrenics and normals in reporting events appears to be smaller in magnitude than the difference found between depressives and normals. The significance of events for schizophrenics and for depressives is different. The number, type, severity and pattern of recent life events reported by schizophrenics suggested a precipitating role of events rather than a formative one. These results were consistent with another controlled study on schizophrenia and recent life experience.