Validation of the Spanish version of the Social Functioning Scale

Social functioning as an outcome variable in therapeutic interventions with schizophrenic patients has been a relatively neglected area. The Social Functioning Scale (SFS) may be a good instrument to evaluate different therapeutical strategies for the rehabilitation of the schizophrenic patient. The aim of this paper is to validate the Spanish version of the SFS.

The Spanish version of the SFS was administered to 85 patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV), and 120 healthy volunteers (60 unemployed and 60 employed).

Cronbach's alpha is between 0.69 and 0.80 in every subscale. Item-total correlations show higher internal consistency than in the validation of the original English version of the SFS. Factorial analysis suggests it could be appropriate to use a mean score from every subscale to make a total score. Discriminant analysis differentiates between patients and controls in a statistically significant way. In order to facilitate the interpretation of the results and their clinical use, a conversion of the direct scores into standardized ones was carried out.

Results from three samples show that the Spanish version of the Social Functioning Scale is reliable, valid, and sensitive.