Effects of social skills training on improving social skills of patients with schizophrenia

This study examined the effect of conversation and assertive skills training on social skills of schizophrenic patients. Patients who met the study criteria were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The experimental group received eight group training sessions and the control group received routine nursing care treatment. Data were collected at pretreatment (before group treatment), intratreatment (after fourth group treatment), posttreatment (after eighth group treatment), and follow-up (1 month after the end of group treatment). Conversation and assertive skills of the experimental group improved significantly with treatment and were superior to the control group at intratreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up. We suggest incorporating social skills training into treatment plans for patients with schizophrenia to improve their social skills ability.