Investigation of the relationship between the negative automatic thoughts of patients with schizophrenia and their levels of social functionality

Aim: This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the negative automatic thoughts of patients with schizophrenia and their levels of social functionality.

Design and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted 142 patients with schizophrenia. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (NATQ) and Social Functioning Assessment Scale (SFAS).

Findings: There was a strong negative correlation between the mean scores obtained from the overall NATQ and SFAS. In addition, negative automatic thoughts of the patients with schizophrenia had a negative effect of 47.2% on their social functionality.

Practice implications: It was found that the patients had moderate levels negative automatic thoughts and social functionality; and that their negative automatic thoughts affected their social functionality negatively.