Background:

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a social skills training program provided at the occupational therapy unit of a tertiary care center in India.

Methods:

The study used a pre–post interventional design where 101 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder, between 18 and 60 years, who provided written informed consent, were assessed on the Vellore Assessment of Social Performance (VASP) during the first week of attendance (baseline). Subsequently, they were enrolled in a six-session social skills group training program for two weeks. They were assessed on the VASP after one week (midterm assessment) and at the end (posttest) of the intervention. A follow-up assessment was done two weeks after cessation of the intervention. The participants were also scored on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) at four time points.

Results:

Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences in the VASP scores between time points, that is, F(baseline, midterm) = −4.34 and P = 0.001; F (baseline, postgroup) = −6.92 and P = 0.001; and F (baseline, follow-up) = −8.71 and P = 0.001. The correlation between the BPRS and VASP scores was also significant at each time point.

Conclusion:

The social skills group training protocol seems to be effective and feasible for the Indian population. Since conducting multicenter clinical trials might not always be possible in resource-constrained settings, this study might be considered preliminary evidence for context-specific, peer-/family-supported social skills training.

中文翻译：

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社交技能培训小组对严重精神疾病患者的有效性：一项事前干预研究

背景：

该研究旨在评估在印度三级护理中心的职业治疗部门提供的社交技能培训计划的有效性。

方法：

该研究采用了前后干预设计，其中 101 名连续诊断为精神分裂症或双相情感障碍的患者，在 18 至 60 岁之间提供了书面知情同意书，并在第一次接受了社会绩效评估 (VASP) 的评估。出席周（基线）。随后，他们参加了为期两周的为期六节的社交技能小组培训计划。一周后（中期评估）和干预结束时（后测）对他们进行了 VASP 评估。在干预停止两周后进行了后续评估。参与者还在四个时间点在简要精神病评定量表 (BPRS) 上进行评分。

结果：

重复测量方差分析显示时间点之间的 VASP 分数存在显着差异，即F（基线，中期）= -4.34 和 P = 0.001；F（基线，组后）= -6.92 和 P = 0.001；和F（基线，随访）= -8.71 和 P = 0.001。BPRS 和 VASP 评分之间的相关性在每个时间点也很显着。

结论：

社交技能小组培训方案似乎对印度人有效且可行。由于在资源有限的环境中进行多中心临床试验可能并不总是可能的，因此本研究可能被视为针对特定环境、同伴/家庭支持的社交技能培训的初步证据。