Reliability and Validity of a Simple Measure for Assessing the Social Skills of People with Schizophrenia Necessary for Seeking and Securing a Job

The literature shows that social and vocational impairments are common problems among people with schizophrenia. However, assessment instruments available for measuring social competence of people with schizophrenia in the workplace are limited. This article describes a two-part measure developed and validated based on a model (Tsang & Pearson, 1996) for assessing social skills necessary for seeking and maintaining a job for people with schizophrenia. The measure consists of a 10 item self-administered checklist and a role-play exercise. The self-administered checklist measures clients' perceived competence in handling work-related social situations. The role-play exercise assesses the social skills necessary for job acquisition and maintenance in two simulated situations (participating in a simulated job interview and requesting urgent leave from work). Cronbach alpha coefficients (self-administered checklist: .80 (n=140); role-play test: .96 (n=60)) show that both parts had good internal consistency. In addition, correlation coefficients show that the self-administered checklist has acceptable test-retest reliability (.35 to .78), and the role-play exercise has good interrater reliability (.77 to .90). The concurrent validity is also shown to be good for both parts of the measure using the method of contrasted groups. It is suggested that this measure is suitable for use by clinicians, rehabilitation administrators and researchers. Application of the instrument in other countries is discussed. Finally, further research is suggested.