The illness and everyday living: close interplay of psychopathological syndromes and psychosocial functioning in chronic schizophrenia

Abstract

The interaction of psychopathological states and psychosocial functioning determine the long-term course of schizophrenia and its treatment. To be able to achieve this interplay better, exact assessment of psychosocial functioning is needed besides measurement of psychopathology. Using the Personal and Social Performance (PSP) Scale, examination of the association between psychosocial functioning and psychopathology was conducted in a sample of 103 patients with chronic schizophrenia. Rating instruments were in addition Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale, as well as Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression Scale, and Mini-ICF-APP-Rating for Mental Disorders (Mini-ICF-APP). Besides good psychometric properties for the PSP scale in this chronic sample, we found, as expected, significant associations between the two relevant outcome domains: results showed significant negative correlations between PSP and PANSS. Findings prove the close interplay between social functioning and psychopathology in the chronic course of schizophrenia.

The Portuguese version of the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP): reliability, validity, and relationship with cognitive measures in hospitalized and community schizophrenia patients

“…Our results confirm previous reports of the psychometric properties of the PSP, evaluated in acutely unwell [1,10,12] and stable patients with schizophrenia [1,9,12,13,24]. They support the Portuguese version of the PSP as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing social functioning, independently of clinical severity or treatment setting.…”

“…It has been used in controlled trials and has been proposed as being particularly well suited for assessing social functioning outcomes in antipsychotic trials [2]. Recently, the scale has been validated in samples of acute and stabilised patients with schizophrenia in Germany [10], Mexico [1], Thailand [11] and China [12], and has shown good validity and reliability [13].…”

Subtle deficits of cognitive theory of mind in unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients

“…Relatives and controls were well-matched with respect to IQ, years of education and age, and all analyses were controlled for the impact of non-social cognition. However, actual social function and involvement in the care of schizophrenic family members were not assessed, so that other moderating circumstances can play a role [86]. Further research should include schizophrenic patients and their relatives as well as control families as homogeneous trios [29], strive for longitudinal designs and integrate genetic and neurobiological parameters.…”

Intercorrelations Between the Personal and Social Performance Scale, Cognitive Function, and Activities of Daily Living

“…The PSP was originally designed to measure social functioning in patients with mental illness. It is well known that social functioning is highly correlated with individuals' cognitive function and activities of daily living (ADLs; Juckel and Morosini, 2008); however, few studies have been designed to explore the intercorrelation among the PSP, cognitive function, and ADLs (Schaub et al, 2011). The aim of this study was therefore to explore the correlation of PSP score with cognitive function and ADL score.…”