1. ERFCON 2017
9th International Conference of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Zagreb
17 – 19 May 2017, Zagreb
SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND SELF-ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS OF PEOPLE WITH AFFECTIVE DISORDERS DUE TO THE FORM OF TREATMENT
Mirta Vranko,1 Dolores Novak,1 Petrana Brečić,1 Irena Velimirović2
1University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, 2Center for rehabilitation Zagreb
Social competence is part of emotional intelligence, which is related to the effective functioning in a social context. Social competence is a complex construct that refers to the effective functioning of an individual in a social context, while successfully achieving personal goals. Affective disorders are often associated with significantly impaired social functioning. Stump et al. (2009) state that social competence is a multidimensional construct that includes relationships, frequency of interaction, a positive self-concept, cognitive and social skills. It is, therefore, necessary to think about people with affective disorders who actively participate in various social contexts and form an integral part of urban culture. The goal of the research is to gain an insight into the social skills of people with affective disorders and self-assessment of social skills. The battery research use Social competence questionnaire for adults and Checklist -  self-assessment of social skills.
Half of the patients involved in any form of treatment estimate that self-control is the aspect of ​​personal growth and development, particularly in the "coping with criticism", "anger control" and "patience in needs controlling". In the field of interpersonal skills there is no significant difference then the average, except for the variables "inviting others to socialize" and "making new friendships"; 78% out-hospital patients state that they do not make new friendships or associate with other people, and similarly patients in daily hospital care , 61% of them do not invite others to socialize, while 79% do not make new friendships. It is assumed that in-hospital care patients are somewhat more successful in the area of ​​interpersonal relationships (63% do not invite others to socialize, 69% do not make new friendships) because of the stationary treatment form. However, we can conclude that the above data explain that the impaired social functioning is corresponding with the diagnostic criteria of depression. In the area of ​​work habits, there is no significant difference from the average results. However, it is interesting that patients in any form of treatment evaluate their confidence higher than expected (out-hospital patients - 39%, daily-hospital patients - 61%, in–hospital patients - 44%) and it is noticed that the same increases with longer involvement of patients in the treatment of any form. The subject finding is suggested as an area of further research.
The research was conducted from February 2017 to April 2017 at the Department of Affective Disorders, University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče. The study was conducted on a convenient sample of a total of 201 subjects, of which 26.4% were male and 72.1% were female. Average age of respondents is with standard deviation of (Sd = ), minimum age is 27 and maximum 75 years. Most of the sample has secondary education ie. high school (64.2%) as the highest education level followed by highly educated respondents ie. university degree (14.9%), higher education (10.4%), elementary school (7.5%) and uncompleted primary school (1.5%). As far as marital status is concerned, 39.8% of respondents state that they are married, 25.4% are single, 17.9% claim to be divorced, 10.9% are widows, and 2% of respondents live in extramarital affections. The highest percentage of patients were hospitalized (32.3%) at the time of the research, followed by patients who were enroled in daily hospital (13.9%) and outpatient treatment (12.9%). Half (50%) of patients are treated with anxiety-depressive disorder, 25% of depressive disorder, and 25% of patients are treated with psychotic disorder.
Respondents achieved relatively low results both in some categories of social competence as well as on the overall scale. The categories with the lowest results relate to empathy, self-expression, recognition and expression of emotions, argumentation and expression of disagreement and assumption of responsibility. These data point to the need to develop a treatment program that will be oriented on raising the level of social competence with an emphasis on its specific skills. Social competence is one of the prerequisites for social inclusion, raising the quality of life and preventing relapse.
In our research we also assessed the level of social competence due to the form of treatment. Oneway ANOVA test was used. Leven's test found that variations statistically differ significantly. It has been established that patients differ significantly in the levels of self-assessed social competence due to the form of treatment. The highest degree of social competence is assessed by patients treated in a day hospital (M = 97.5), followed by outpatient treatment (M = 95.5). In line with the expected the minimum level of social competence is assesed by those who were in hospital treatment at the time of the research (M = 87.92).
Table 1. Results of self-assessment of social competence in patients with depression by category and overall outcome.
N=201 M SD
The highest possible score
The lowest possible score
Problem solving
14.37
2.38 24 12
Dealing with anger
11.02
1.21 20 10
Stress control
4.38
0.97 6 3
Listening
4.97
0.8 8 4
Saying “no“
5.56
Empathy
7.66
1.28
Self-expression
3.12
0.754
Recognition and expression of emotions
6.13
1.07 5
Arguing and expressing disagreement
5.24
1.04
Assuming responsibility
3.80
0.82
Communication skills
1.10 14 7
Appreciation of diversity
1.08
0.27 2 1
Setting goals
2.8
Social competence overall score
91.83
16.73
144 67
During outpatient treatment and treatment in daily-hospital, patients actively work on development or improvement of their social competence. Therefore, our results that outpatients and daily-hospital patients have more developed social competence can be interpreted as a result of the above. Also, lower social competence is one of the negative symptoms of mental health disorders, as well as it is one of the characteristics of premorbid personality structure. Higher results in social competence in outpatients and daily hospital patients can be related to perceiving their level of functioning higher than in hospital patients.
A self-assessment of social competence was used. The scale that measures social competence consists of 67 variables that are divided into the following categories: problem solving, dealing with anger, stress control, listening, saying "no", empathy, self-expression, recognition and expression of emotions, arguing and expressing disagreement, assuming responsibility, communication skills, appreciation of diversity and setting goals. The highest overall result on the scale of social competence that can be achived is 144, while the minimum is 67.
Stump et al. (2009). Theories of Social Competence from the Top-Down to the Bottop-Up: A Case for Considering Foundational Human
Needs. (in) Matson, J. (2009). Social Behavior and Skills in Children, 23 – 37.New York: Springer - Verlag