Context:

Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating mental illness. The complexity of its clinical course impairs thinking, perception, and interpersonal relationships, persistently altering the social functioning and quality of life of affected individuals. Integration into social skills training programs provides the necessary tools for use in their daily lives.

Objective:

To analyze data on social and individual performance and assertive communicational practice in social situations in people with schizophrenia.

Methods:

Descriptive-correlational study conducted with a non-probabilistic sample of 19 inpatients in a treatment unit for people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The ECI-R (Interpersonal Behavior Scale - reduced version) and PSP (Personal and Social Performance Scale) scales were used. Summary statistics appropriate for the different characterization variables and measures of personal and social functioning and assertive social practice were calculated. The Pearson's correlation t-test was used to verify the existence of a correlation between the components and dimensions of the ECI.

Results:

Significant difficulties were observed in personal and social functioning, as well as important levels of discomfort and low frequency of assertive interpersonal behaviors, with a negative but not statistically significant correlation between the two components.

Conclusions:

The global deficits in functioning and particularly in social performance indicate the need to implement social skills training programs to equip individuals with schizophrenia with the assertiveness and interpersonal relationship skills necessary for life in society.

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