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Objective: Assessment of the level of social functioning is important especially for people with schizophrenia that has a chronic course of illness. The purpose of this study was to develop a culturally sensitive, user-friendly scale that could assess the social functioning of the people with schizophrenia living in Turkey. Methods: After examining the studies that assessed social functioning in people with mental illnesses and social habits of people living in the community, a 28-item scale was formed. The items of the form were discussed with patients with schizophrenia and their family members. Items, which were difficult to comprehend, were reevaluated and the form was finalized as Social Functioning Assessment Scale (SFAS). One hundred and forty-eight outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were given the SFAS, Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global impression-Severity (CGI-S), and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). At the same time, Social Functioning Scale (SFS) and SFAS were filled out by the relatives of the patients living together. SFAS was also given to 161 healthy subjects living in the community. For reliability analyses; internal consistency coefficient, item-total correlation, and test-retest reliability were assessed. For validity analyses; explanatory factor analysis, convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity were examined. Results: The data from 120 patients with schizophrenia and 28 with schizoaffective disorder was examined. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for SFAS total score was 0.842. Kaiser-Meyer- Olkin value was 0.813, and Bartlett test was significant for factor analysis. In explanatory factor analysis, SFAS comprised of three factors (interpersonal relations and recreation, self-care, independent living) and they can explain 47% of the total variance. Occupational life could not get in any of the factors; however, since it was important for social functioning, it was added to the scale as the fourth factor. Total score of the SFAS filled out by the patients was significantly correlated with PANSS, CGI-S, GAF and SFS total score. There was a satisfactory correlation between the total score of SFAS filled out by the patients and relatives. There was a statistically significant difference between the SFAS scores of the patients and SFAS scores of the controls. Test-retest reliability of the SFAS-P was 0.874. Conclusion: Regarding the findings of the study, SFAS was considered a culturally sensitive, easy-to-use, valid and reliable instrument that objectively assesses the social functioning of the patients with schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Psychosocial Skills Training (PSST) and Metacognitive Training (MCT) programs on general psychopathology, cognitive functioning, and social functioning in patients with schizophrenia., Methods: Twenty patients with schizophrenia who were treated at the Kocaeli University Psychiatry Department outpatient clinic between January and June 2016, accepted to participate in the study and met inclusion criteria were included in this study. Patients were randomized as two groups of 10 people. The management of each group was carried out by a trainer and a co-trainer. The Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity (CGI-S) to assess psychopathology, the General Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and the Quality of Life Scale in Schizophrenia (QoLS) to assess social functioning, the Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) to assess cognitive functioning were used by the clinicians blinding to groups in the first two weeks before and after the intervention. After the training, first and last test scale scores were compared., Results: All patients who participated in the study completed the study (male: 13, female: 7). There was no significant difference in age, gender, marital status, years of education, duration of illness, the age of onset, and the number of hospitalizations in comparison of individual and clinical characteristics of the groups (p>0.05). When the scores were compared of the groups before and after the intervention, there was a significant difference concerning psychopathology, social and cognitive functioning in both groups (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of effect size., Conclusion: The study showed that both programs aiming to improve psychopathology and functioning in the treatment of schizophrenia have positive results. Improvement in cognitive functioning should also be tested by neurocognitive tests in the large-scale studies with control groups., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: There is not any conflict of interest of the authors regarding the study.