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Assessing Social Skills in People With Very Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Validity of the Social Performance Survey Schedule (SPSS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Esther Long ,
Skye McDonald ,
Robyn Tate ,
Leanne Togher  and
Cristina Bornhofen
Esther Long
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Skye McDonald*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia. smcdonald@psy.unsw.edu.au
Robyn Tate
Affiliation:
Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia.
Leanne Togher
Affiliation:
Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia.
Cristina Bornhofen
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia.
*
*Correspondence to: Professor Skye McDonald, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, NSW, Australia.
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Abstract

The current study was designed to determine whether the Social Performance Survey Schedule (SPSS; Lowe & Cautela, 1978) is a useful measure of social skills in people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Forty-nine adults with TBI were compared on the SPSS to 190 adults without injuries. The validity of the SPSS was also investigated in relation to another measure of social performance, the first scale of the Katz Adjustment Scale (KAS-R1; Katz & Lyerly, 1963) and a broad measure of social function (the SPRS; Tate, Hodgkinson, Veerabangsa, & Maggiotto, 1999). Individuals with TBI had significantly lower scores on the positive scale of the SPSS than nonbrain-injured individuals. They did not have lower scores on the SPSS negative scale relative to the normative sample. Significant correlations with the KAS-R1 and SPRS provided evidence for the construct and criterion validity of SPSS within this population. In conclusion, this study suggests that where an appropriate normative sample is used, the positive subscale of the SPSS is a sound measure for detecting the extent and nature of deficits in prosocial behaviour seen in TBI, but raises the question as to how we define negative behaviours in the 21st century on scales such as the SPSS.

Keywords

social skillstraumatic brain injuryassessment
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , 01 December 2008 , pp. 274 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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