Introduction: Symptoms and cognitive impairments of schizophrenia affect social integration and functioning. Accurate measurement is essential in evaluating treatment needs and outcomes. The Personal and Social Performance scale (PSP; Morosini et al. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 101(4):323-329, 2000) is a clinical tool assessing social functioning in rehabilitation settings.
Methods: One hundred and twenty-nine patient/informant dyads at eight US sites participated in this study. Patients were at least 18 years old, have had schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder for one year or more, and were currently residing in the community. Informants were at least 21 years old, cared for the patient for at least one month, and had contact at least twice weekly. The PSP, Personal Evaluation of Transitions in Treatment (PETiT), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S), and Quality of Life Scale (QLS) tools were completed. Analyses focused on descriptive statistics, item characteristics, reliability, and validity.
Results: Patients were community-dwelling outpatients without severe difficulties. The PSP scores were well correlated with each other and related measures. Socially useful activities and personal and social relationships were the strongest indicators, suggesting separate aspects of functioning. Internal consistency reliability was adequate (alpha = 0.76). The PSP was sensitive to differences in social functioning by clinical severity.
Conclusions: The PSP suggested scale reliability and validity among outpatients. Future examination should expand validity analyses and evaluate responsiveness.