The differential efficacy of social skills training with chronic schizophrenic residents along five dimensions of peer interaction reciprocal social behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine efficacy of social skills training with individuals diagnosed with forms of schizophrenia, with the goal of increasing their social interactions with peers. They were examined along five dimensions of peer interaction: politeness, initiating conversation, compromise and negotiation, making requests, and expressing feelings. Generalization of acquired skills to participants' real-life settings was also examined. Repeated measures and one-way ANOVA's were used to test these hypotheses. Twenty-four de-institutionalized individuals residing in a mental health group home facility were randomly selected to participate. Twelve were randomly selected to receive social skills training and the remaining twelve participated in the control group continuing with their treatment as usual. Participants attended five social skills training groups and were evaluated by reliable raters at the first session and the last session to measure their peer interaction skills. The hypotheses of this study were not supported. Over the course of treatment, the experimental group did not show a significant increase in social interactions with peers compared to the control group, therefore generalization did not occur