Habilidades sociales y apoyo social en esquizofrenia

Although both constructs of Social Skill and Social Support are known for their significance in the field of schizophrenia, the relationship between the two has hardly been explored. The available research is generally limited to the structural dimension of Social Support and it tends to be based on small, heterogenous samples. This study tries to explore the relationship between Social Skill and structural and functional Social Support variables using 95 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to RDC criteria, who attended a Community Mental Health Center. Eighteen of these individuals are women, and the mean age of the sample is 29,2 years old. Social Skill here is assessed by the Simulated Social Interaction Test, and the Mannheim Interview on Social Support is used to assess the Social Support. The results show weak, though significant correlation between Social Skill and structural and functional dimensions of ¿non-familial¿ Social Support: Network Size (r= .29, p< 0.01), Frecuecy of Contact (r= .24, p< 0.05), Multiplexity (r= .24, p< 0.05), Psychological Everyday Support (r= .29, p<0.01), Psychological Crisis Support (r= .30 < 0.01) and Instrumental Crisis Support (r= .21, p< 0.05). With the exception of Psychological Crisis Support, Social Skills does not correlate with ¿familial¿ Social Support. The results show that the relationship between both constructs depends on the source of Social Support and it suggest that Social Skill is mainly associated with the ¿non-familial¿ social suppor