Social functioning and neurocognitive deficits in outpatients with schizophrenia: a 2-year follow-up

Neurocognitive deficits have been associated with the social functioning impairments of patients with schizophrenia. More information is needed about how cognitive status and other variables predict social functioning over defined periods of time. In this study, 72 relatively stable outpatients with schizophrenia were compared between baseline and a 2-year follow-up on measures of social functioning. Patients were also assessed with a battery of neurocognitive tests and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Results were compared by univariate and multivariate analyses. A total of four out of seven subscales of the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) and the total SFS score did not show a significant change over the 2-year period. On the three SFS subscales that did show a significant change, residual change scores were correlated with better neurocognitive performance at baseline, younger age, and shorter illness duration. For the Multnomah Community Ability Scale, 48.9% of the total score at follow-up was predicted by initial negative symptoms and scores on the Aphasia Screening Test. These results document the independent contribution of demographic variables, negative symptoms, and neurocognitive deficits to the social functioning impairments of individuals with schizophrenia.