Only a small number of studies have tried to identify factors influencing the subjective QoL of patients suffering from schizophrenia in a longitudinal design. These studies suffer from small clinical samples or compare baseline data only with a single follow-up. The European Schizophrenia Cohort Study overcomes these shortcomings by providing data from five time points on 1208 patients in psychiatric treatment in three European countries over a period of 2 years. QoL was measured with the brief version of Lehman's Quality of Life Interview. Random effects, between-effects and within-effects regression models were computed in order to measure the influence on subjective QoL of patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and objective QoL. Objective QoL scores were generally found to be related to the equivalent subjective QoL scores. People's financial situation, and depressive and positive symptoms had a general effect on almost all subjective domains. The significant effects of objective finances on subjective domains like health and social relations raise interesting possibilities for intervention. Sufficient financial resources appear to be a necessary condition for achieving satisfactory QoL in schizophrenia patients. However, changes in individual's characteristics and circumstances did not relate as strongly as expected to changes in QoL, suggesting effective intervention may be difficult.