Development of an instrument for assessing self-efficacy in schizophrenic spectrum disorders

Self-efficacy constructs recently have been incorporated into a model of social functioning for schizophrenics. This model proposes that self-efficacy mediates patients' coping efforts. To assess this hypothesis accurately, it is critical to have a scale that measures self-efficacy reliably and validly. Such a scale was developed in this research, which used two independent samples of schizophrenic-spectrum patients. Results indicate that this scale is both valid and reliable. The data support the validity of two underlying subscales, one that measures positive symptom self-efficacy and one that measures negative symptom/social interaction self-efficacy. Future directions of psychosocial constructs in schizophrenic-symptom development are discussed, including the need for concurrent tracking of symptom development and self-efficacy.